Winthrop Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
No matter who you are. No matter where you are on life's journey. You are welcome here.
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.’ So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.’ So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles. Tasha and I really like this British show called The Repair Shop. It is a show about expert builders and restorers who work on returning precious but worn things back to their original luster. Sometimes it is an heirloom jewelry box. Sometimes a beloved old teddy bears. Dolls’ houses, pocket watches, broken chairs, and bagpipes are all lovingly, painstakingly restored by the experts on the show. Sometimes the end-product of a restoration is as near to identical to how the item looked on the day it was purchased as humanly possible. Sometimes, though, the same-as-it-once-was isn’t possible or even preferable.
While working on this sermon, I rewatched part of an episode where two of the restorationist, Will, who is carpenter, and Suzie, who is a leatherworker, work on a rocking horse. It had been worked on by a couple, Julie and Paul, who’d intended to work on it again for their grandchildren. Unfortunately, Paul died before they could complete it. The two experts took great care to make the color of the horse look as close as possible to the original, and fixed so much broken plaster and a mane and tail that had once faced bored children with scissors. In this way, the horse looked very much like it did when Julie’s parents bought it for her when she was a child. The experts also changed some of the design. Paul, who had died, had signed the horse up under where the saddle would lay when working on it for his own children. During the restoration, Suzie made a whole new saddle that could be removed, so that Julie could show her children and grandchildren Paul’s signature. Julie was astounded when she saw the finished piece, and deeply moved by the change that allowed everyone to see Paul’s signature. In this case, the most useful restoration for this family wasn’t just making the horse look like it did 55 years ago. It was going to be a restoration that took their grief and their love seriously, making a space for them to remember one they had lost, while also offering a gift to the next generation of their family. A good restoration meant a change from the original design that actually helped them better fulfill their ultimate goal, which was passing along a toy to help the grandchildren feel connected to their grandfather. Today’s reading is an act of restoration. Restoration attempts to bring something that has been damaged in some way back to the state in which it was created. The damage in the reading comes from Judas’ betrayal of Jesus back in Luke. Remember, Acts is the sequel to Luke. The author of Acts uses the first chapter of the book to remind us of important things that happened at the end of Luke and set the stage for the next steps of the disciples’ ministry after Jesus is no longer physically present with them. Their ultimate goal was to go out into the world, empowered by the Spirit, to teach and heal as Jesus did. They knew that it would be necessary to have coworkers for this calling. It also seemed important for them to have twelve specific apostles, as Jesus’ first 12 disciples were called. With the death of Judas, they only had eleven. It seemed clear that they would need to restore themselves to twelve. Scott Spencer notes in his commentary on today’s reading that finding a new 12th apostle is the first thing that Jesus’ first followers do in this book. Why is twelve important? At least part of the reason, according to Christopher Matthew’s notes on the chapter, seems to be that it may have been important to them to have 12 apostles in order to mirror the 12 tribes of Israel. Like last week when we talked about the ways that Jesus’ 40 days with the disciples after the resurrection was to mirror his 40 days in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry, Moses’ forty days of fasting before receiving the Torah, and the Israelites 40 years in the wilderness, the repetition of a number from one vital part of their scriptural history into a newer story is used to remind us that all of these stories are connected. Jesus was concerned about the restoration of his people, according to Amy Lindeman Allen, and calling the first twelve apostles, who become his closest confidants, was meant to evoke that history and also the future he wanted to work for. Judas’ actions and subsequent death had disrupted that particular image of restoration by creating a rupture in The Twelve. While, as Spencer notes, Peter, who also betrayed Christ by denying him, was given a second chance and ultimately redeems himself, Judas will only be replaced. It is Peter who is most clear about the need for a new twelfth Apostle. And, it is people who offers up theological explanations for Judas’ actions, pointing to Hebrew scripture that he believed foretold of Judas’ actions. And, he roots his argument for a return to Twelve Apostles in his biblical interpretation. Notice how easily the 120 people gathered come to an agreement. This is the eleven remaining apostles plus other loyal disciples who had gathered. It was about as many people as can fit in this room if we sit in every seat. They lifted up two names, Joseph and Matthias, as potential new apostles and did something called “casting lots” to decide which of the two would be chosen. It seems like a game of chance, but they trusted that the Spirit would make the right decision for them through what would look like a game to us. The Spirit brought them Matthias, completing the Twelve and setting them up for the next steps in their mission. The Twelve would not look the same going forward. How could they after such trauma? These changes aren’t a failure though. That’s what Peter argued. The change was necessary. They did not have to leave a gap to remember what had been lost. They could bring in something... someone new to help them fulfill their mission more completely. Matthias is so well integrated into the Twelve and the Twelve are so connected to one another that we never really hear about most of them separately again. As Spencer points out, only Peter and John will be named again individually in the book of Acts, though their roles will be significant. Generally speaking, The Twelve have a purpose, but it is not to exist for their own sake. It is to remind people of their connection to Jesus and, I think, to show that others can be adopted into this new movement. And, others will. As Spence points out, the Twelve and the 120 will grow like branches on a vine, even if we don’t hear most of their names again. Newer disciples like Barnabas, Stephen, Philip will come to prominence as key “servant-leaders.” Eventually Saul will be transformed by a vision of Christ and adopt the name Paul. He’ll come to call himself an apostle, but not one of the Twelve. There will be women- Tabitha, Lydia, Priscilla, and Philip’s four daughters- who will become leaders, teachers, and prophets in their congregations. Jesus’ movement for love and justice will grow beyond those whom he appointed in life into those who feel the call of his Spirit. The change that brought in Matthias became the foundation for the development of every follower of Christ who came later. May we follow their example and be open to our restoration and evolution. And, may our shared service bloom, yet again, into God’s love and justice. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: A definition of Restoration: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/restoration You can watch the episode of The Repair Shop with the Rocking horse story here: https://youtu.be/LBJVIud8mLA?si=tIFuIK0NJoriphmd Scott Spencer: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/seventh-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-acts-115-17-21-26-6 Amy Lindemen Allen: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/seventh-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-acts-115-17-21-26-4 Christopher R. Matthew’s notes on Acts in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)
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Acts 1:1-11In 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, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’ Alright, we’re going to have a Bible quiz! Anyone can answer.
Well done. Well done. You all get A’s in Sunday School. Today’s reading is from the book of Acts. It’s the very beginning of the book. Did anyone catch the name of the person the book was written to? Theophilus. Yes, very good. Does anyone know what the name Theolophilus means? “Dear to God.” Now, think back to all of what Maryelise read. Can anyone give me a two or three sentence summary of what the reading was about? Good. I like to think of it as a summary of the last part of the Gospel of Luke. Sometimes when you start a sequel to a story that has already been told, you have to remind people of what happened the last time. In the Star Wars movies, you might get text scrolling up the screen so you can read along to understand what’s happening. This time, it has nothing to do with Ewoks though. Instead, it’s “remember that time Jesus came back after Rome killed him and then made sure his followers could continue his work without him?” Specifically, the author mentions Jesus’ ascension into heaven. F. Scott Spencer points out in his commentary on this scripture, Luke is the only Gospel to talk about the Ascension. He describes it as a “hinge” between Jesus’ ministry with his disciples and the disciples’ ministry inspired by Jesus’ spirit. Everything that follows in this book is because the disciples will follow Jesus, even when he no longer walks alongside them. Has anyone here ever been a part of a relay race? What do you do in a relay race? Yeah. There are multiple people who are on one team. One team member starts the race and runs a portion of it, then, often by passing something called a baton to the next runner. That person running takes the baton and carries it to the next runner. Then, they pass it to the next runner. Carolyn Brown, who worked in children’s ministries, has written before that she thinks that the book of Acts is kind of like a relay race where Jesus is passing the baton, that is his spirit, on to the disciples so they can run the next leg of the race. There’s a song with a line that says “Guide my feet while I run this race. Guide my feet while I run this race. Guide my feet while I run this race, for I don’t want to run this race in vain.” Maybe that could be our theme song for the book of Acts. This part of Acts talks about Jesus staying with the disciples for 40 days to continue to teach them and prepare them for the rest of the race. Does anyone else remember any Bible stories that have 40 of something in them? The Israelites were in the desert for forty years. A scholar named Scott Spencer listed a couple more in a commentary he wrote about today’s reading. He talked about, in addition to the 40 years in the wilderness, there are other stories about 40 of something in the wilderness. Moses had two time periods of forty days where he fasted on Mount Sinai when he received the Torah from God (Deut. 9:9-10:10). Also, when Jesus himself was preparing himself for ministry after his baptism, he was in the wilderness for forty days where he was tested, affirmed God’s law, and tended to by God. In that time, he affirmed that he would use what Spencer called his “Spirit-power” to help other people, not give himself more wealth or earthly authority (Luke 4:1‒13). I think maybe we should think about this forty days as Jesus encouraging his disciples to do the same thing. They will be empowered to do some important things. Any of them who use their power to hurt other people or to build up their own reputations would not be following his example or be doing what God hoped for them. Jesus says that when you have power, you use it to help people. Always. One of the trickiest parts of a relay race is when one runner is passing the baton off to another. It’s so easy to miss each other’s hands, drop the baton, or mess up the timing. Runners practice passing the baton so that they can be prepared to pass it along and to receive it. You really have to be ready and paying attention to receive the baton correctly in order to run your portion of the race. Over the next couple Sundays, we’ll be talking some more about what the disciples do to get ready to receive the baton. Jesus says they need to wait in Jerusalem because that is where they received the power to run the next leg. They can’t rush the hand off. If they do, they risk dropping it. I imagine you have had a time in your life when something important is clearly over and you are transitioning into the next part of your journey. That is also what is going on in this story. The Ascension is Jesus’ final steps up to the next runners and their time in Jerusalem will be that full moment of hand off. In a time that may have seemed like a breath and also like days, they waited to receive what was coming, and begin what was coming next. We know that they’ll run their race, mostly because we are running ours, having been passed the baton by those who came before use. May you receive the power to do whatever you are called to next. And, may you be inspired by the preparation of the ones who have come before. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Scott Spencer: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ascension-of-our-lord/commentary-on-acts-11-11-9 Carolyn Brown: https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2016/04/year-c-ascension-of-lord-thursday-may-5.html John 15:1-8 Jesus the True Vine ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. Several years ago, a colleague invited me to preach at her installation. She was the associate pastor to two congregations. The senior pastor of the two congregations had been there for a couple decades at that point. She really wanted to have a message of welcoming something new to a body that had already been together for a long time. I immediately began to think of my neighbor’s apple tree. It produces five varieties of apples. That can only happen because of one technology: grafting.
I am certain that I have told you about this tree before. I'm going to talk about grafting again because I think it’s a useful metaphor for church. For that sermon years ago, I read up on grafting trees in particular. Grafting has myriad uses. One use is cloning. Because of the particular ways that apple and pears reproduce, if you have a delicious fruit and want to grow more trees that produce that fruit same fruit, it is better to clone that fruit’s tree than try to grow another from seed. A second reason that I learned that people add grafts to trees is to help heal injured parts of a tree. A third reason that I learned that people graft trees is probably the one I find most interesting. Grafting can be used to make a healthy tree stronger and create more variety in its fruit. New, healthier parts of the tree can be grafted in to keep it from cracking with wind and age. Also, you can help the tree pollinate more easily and successfully by introducing new grafts. Sometimes you can even make plants with several different kinds of fruit on them. This is how my neighbor ended up with an apple tree with multiple varieties. Last week, when I preached on part of John 10, I noted that Jesus said, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” Dr. Gennifer Benjamin Brooks said this part of the reading on the Good Shepherd reminds us that a single faith community as it stands at any given moment does not complete the body of Christ. This has been true from the time of Christ and continues to this day. Jesus calls sheep from all corners to join the fold. And, as the sheep are gathered, they become one flock... one body. Foundational to our Christian faith is an understanding of God that allows people who are pretty different from one another, and often people forced to live at the margins of society, to come together across difference and become one body. In John 10, Jesus used the flock as a metaphor for this coming together. In John 15, Jesus uses the image of the vine and branches. How do you introduce a new branch into a plant? How do you support the health of an existing plant? How might you help a plant grow? Perhaps by grafting. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches and new branches can be grafted in at any time. Just as each new branch that is grafted to a root stock adds to the strength and viability of a Vine of Christ, so, too, does it change how vine grows. If the grafting is done well, by a skilled farmer, a vine will respond to the new graft’s presence by knitting together old and new, creating a stronger plant. In time, this new plant will bear new fruit. Growing this fruit is only possible because the root stock and graft grow together. Doesn’t this sound like the part of the reading where Jesus described himself as a vine who relies on the vine grower? But, it also helps us see the way the vine grower tends to new vines to make the old vine stronger. The central metaphor of today’s reading, the vine and branches, I think, can show us something about how Jesus’ followers, with all our wonderful variety and necessary differences, grow with Christ into one whole body. Jesus said that he was the vine and God was the vine grower. The ones who hear the Gospel and are moved by it, becomes branches of that same vine. The branches cannot grow without the vine and the vine cannot grow without the vine grower. Though, we should note, the vine grower receives sustenance from the fruitful vine. The scholar Karoline Smith says we need to pay attention to the fact that the relationship between growers and plants is mutual. Each party is necessary for abundant growth and life. No one part grows by itself. Intimacy among God and Jesus and Jesus followers is necessary for the vine and branches to thrive. According to this chapter of John, we build intimacy with the Divine from following Jesus’ teaching. In John, this is called abiding in Jesus. According to Karoline Lewis, this is one of the most important ways Jesus understands his ministry in this Gospel. He says that the ones who abide in him and in whom he abides will bear much fruit. To return to the work of Dr. Brooks, in her commentary on today’s reading, she says that “The guiding principle by which all would be transformed into the image of Christ is boundless love of God and neighbor.” A thriving vine of Christ will be fed by this love of God and love of neighbor. When you love God, you love your neighbor. When you love your neighbor, you tend to your neighbors’ well-being and make sure that any body of Christ you are helping to cultivate is capable of incorporating new branches. A vine that doesn’t grow can’t produce the fruits of justice and love. And what are we doing here if not growing towards the Gospel that Christ has shared with us? This is where the part of how to make one vine out of many branches comes in. We are still in the season of Easter, where we spend time considering how Jesus would prepare his followers to carry on the Gospel without him being physically present. He did not preach the Gospel alone. He called disciples to help. The disciples, too, will need co-workers, and will invite others to be grafted into the Vine. The Gospel is always the work of community, at work through relationships. The branches will be called and empowered to grow and carry on Christ's work in the world, long after Jesus himself returns to God. These branches must grow, pruning that which does not produce love and justice, and reach out into all of creation, bearing fruit of God's love on this earth. One way we will grow is by making sure that the branch that we steward is prepared for new branches. Perhaps instead of cloning beloved varietals, we can understand that people will come to our church with great gifts for ministry cultivated in other communities, be they churches or neighborhoods, and decides to use those gifts to serve a new congregation in a new way. They may be able to replicate the attentiveness, prayerfulness, and dedication with which they went about developing these gifts in another situation to fit the needs and joys of a new congregation. One of the great joys of being grafted into a new community is being trusted to bring all of the experiences you have had up until that point and being allowed to use these experiences to serve in a new way. It is a joy to see these gifts bloom in a new place. I mentioned that grafts aid in healing. Healing is certainly foundational to the Gospel. Congregations, if we’re following Christ, spend a lot of time healing, too: Healing old hurts and arguments, offering comfort for the pains of everyday life, working to heal systemic injustice that wounds whole communities. In recognizing the ways that we need healing and that the world needs healing, we are abiding in Christ and Christ is abiding in us. If we love our neighbors, we will seek healing. We will be confident that God is at work in our healing, too. Grafting on new branches can bring such joy and creativity, too. Like the tree with many kinds of apples, we may be surprised by who we grow next to. This body of Christ, the vine and branches, is not complete. There is always the possibility for new and different growth meeting the needs of new and different times. Whatever we will become is already growing in us, like the graft growing with the root stock. And, we’ll likely get some new grafts, too, helping us reach out with Christ in directions we can’t even imagine right now. Storms will come. So will droughts, freezes, and caterpillars. Do not fear, though. We have a vine grower with water to refresh, patient hands to pick away the bugs, and tools to prune and shape us as we grow. May we rejoice in this unfinished, ever growing, pruned, and grafted Body of Christ. May we never lose sight of the growing that we have yet to do. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Gennifer Benjamin Brooks: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-john-1011-18-5 -https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-john-151-8-5 Helpful information on grafting: http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/fruit/grafting-and-budding-fruit-trees/ Karoline Lewis, John: Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014). John 10:11-18 ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’ I remember Palm Sunday four years ago when I was trying to figure out something I could do that was fun and engaging for the service when we couldn’t gather together in person. We emailed out some paper palms people could color and print and left some real palms for people to pick up at church, so that seemed to cover the palms. What I had to think harder about was the parade. Before Covid, I often invited the youngest ministers of the church to lay palms and cloth down around the sanctuary and march with me while the whole church shouts “Hosanna!” I do not live with a bunch of children to reproduce that kind of parade. I did, however, live with some chickens and guinea fowl. So, I drafted them into service. Bribed. I bribed them into service with many freeze-dried worm treats. A whole bunch of the families at church also sent me clips of parents and kids shouting “Hosanna” for the video. This video of me and my silly birds and so many of the kids of this church and their families may be one of the best things we’ve ever made together as a church. I’ll share the video when I post the sermon so that you all can be reminded of the glory of it. If you haven’t seen it, it starts with me and the birds. I shake a bag of worms and start walking around the driveway with my palms. The chickens and guineas eventually started to follow me, even though I was shouting Hebrew words they didn’t know. At some point, they got spooked and peeled off towards the woodshed instead of following me towards the coop. The video records my dismayed shout of “You’re going the wrong way!” I shared the finished video on social media and two of my clergy colleagues immediately noticed the birds acting a lot like Jesus’ human followers. Rev. Alexis Fuller-Wright said, “[T]hose chickens make the BEST and most accurate followers of Jesus.” Rev. Liddy Gerchman-Barlow heard echoes of Jesus’ own exasperation in my words. Putting my words in quotation marks, she typed: “’You're going the wrong way!’ - Jesus.” How many times did the disciples get scared or confused or distracted and start running towards the woodshed? Pretty often, if we’re being honest about it. Even though we are well past Palm Sunday and into the Easter season, I bring up my poultry and that video because I don’t know much, really, about having sheep. I do, however, know a little bit about having chickens. Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay points out in her commentary on this text, Jesus used agricultural images that were familiar to the people who lived around him. Just about everyone would have known a shepherd. They would have known what it was like to deal with real-life, often troublesome, behavior of sheep on a regular basis. As Lindsay notes, even though sheep are often gentle and easily domesticated, that doesn’t mean they always do what their shepherds want. And, they are vulnerable to many predators.
Just about all of those things can be said of my birds, too. It was a challenge to keep them healthy and safe, especially through Maine winters. After five years of not losing any to predation, last year, we lost our last two hens to a hungry fox. It is not always easy to care for other living things, even things you may one day eat or rely on for eggs or wool. The people who first heard Jesus preach would have known that. It is no small thing to keep a herd of sheep safe. Shepherding was a challenging and necessary job. Shepherds could end up in danger themselves while tending to and protecting their sheep. When Jesus speaks of himself as a good shepherd as recorded in the book of John, he is making a couple interesting choices in how he teaches. One, he is choosing to use a metaphor to describe himself that many people will be familiar with, which is good pedagogy. And, two, he’s aligning himself with a hard-working, ubiquitous, often dangerous kind of work in his society. It is interesting to me that Jesus chose to describe himself as a shepherd and not a king or a warrior or even simply as a teacher. Knowing that people hoped for the Messiah to lead them out from under the thumb of Rome, you might expect Jesus to speak of himself as a king or a warrior, but he doesn’t. And, he doesn’t simply refer to himself as a teacher. The common ideas about being a teacher would have left out the danger that Jesus understood himself to be facing. Though, were Jesus speaking now, in this country, with far too much easy access to firearms, and teachers who regularly prepare themselves to lay down their lives for their students, the ideas of shepherd and teacher aren’t so far apart as they once were. Jesus started talking about being a shepherd at this point in John, as Karoline Lewis reminds us in one of her commentaries, in response to a community that has forced a man out after Jesus healed him. I won’t retell that whole story, but it starts in John 9. Jesus heals a man who had been born blind. Religious leaders disagreed as to whether or not Jesus’ power to offer than healing came from God or from somewhere bad. The powerful leaders grew angry with the man when he asserted that he believed Jesus to have come from God because only God could have healed him. They drove him out of their community. Jesus went and found the man, who declared that he believed Jesus to be the Son of Man. Then, Jesus began to talk with the Pharisees about what happened. That’s when he says he’s a shepherd, and he’s come for sheep like the man who had been born blind. Notice how Jesus acted like a shepherd by going and looking for the man who had been run off from his former herd. Karoline Lewis notes that the man heard Jesus before seeing him, and still believed. Seeing him confirmed that belief. The man chose to become part of Jesus’ flock, and Jesus would claim him and care for him when he was cast out. “I know my own and my own know me.” Jesus also promises that the flock will grow. “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” Lewis speaks of this as the promise of abundance that comes with being a part of Jesus’ flock... not an abundance of money or power, but of healing and renewed community. “Healing leads to belonging,” Lewis says. And belonging leadings to abundant life. You may have noticed that this story happens before the crucifixion and resurrection in the book of John. This isn’t a post-resurrection story like we’ve heard the last couple weeks. I do wonder how the memory of this encounter would have felt to those who would have witnessed the crucifixion and the resurrection. Would this image of the shepherd who was willing to lay his life down, bolster them after the gift of the Resurrection, that is Christ’s renewed life? Jesus, who had promised abundant life, lived out that promise by defeating death and returning to his disciples. Did they remember the man born blind, to whom Jesus also returned with a promise and a gift of community? In this time where we are watching too many people with power, hoard more power, and harm people with the authority they’ve amassed, what can we learn from this shepherd who laid his power down on behalf of the ones he loved? And, how will we share the abundant life we are cultivating guided by his Spirit? Even though we sometimes act like my poultry, running off in the wrong direction, away from the treats promised us, like the birds, may we know that the shepherd will come looking for us, ready to share abundance with us. May we help find the rest of the flock so they can share the abundance, too. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Palm Sunday 2020 video: https://youtu.be/BfT92jbsyVY?si=1kTjuXKy9dY7lt-K Cheryl Lindsay: https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/sermon-seeds-power-to-lay-it-down/ Caroline Lewis: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-john-1011-18-6 Luke 24:36b-48 Jesus Appears to His Disciples While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from 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. Last week, I had an extraordinary meal... well, several very good meals. That’s part of the joy of weddings. The people getting married, or their friends and family, will feed you. I want to talk about one of the good meals. When I am anywhere between Texas and California, I want to get Mexican food. Our friend Cherie, who grew up in Phoenix and went to college in Tucson, made sure we got some. After conversation with our other friends Simone and Shauna, we went to a local chain with loads of options. I spied something called a birria taco and knew I had to have it. Birria is usually a stew, often with beef that has been cooked for a long time so that it is tender enough to be easily shredded with a fork. When you get the shredded meat in tacos, they give you a little bowl of soup broth in which you can dip your tacos.
The food was so good that I got it on both my shirt and pants and used not less than three napkins to clean up my face and hands. The meat was cooked perfectly. The broth was delicious. The corn tortillas were just the right amount of crunchy. There was also guacamole and salsa that was made right at our table. We sat outside on the patio on a beautiful, if windy, 70-degree day with a good friend who we hadn’t seen in-person since before the pandemic and ate really good food. It wasn’t exactly Easter dinner, but it was only four days after, which is close enough for me. I can’t imagine Jesus’ ministry without food. How many times in each of the four Gospels do we see him sharing a meal with his friends, sharing a meal with his enemies, being hosted by other friends while he teaches, feeding people who show up to hear him teach, talking about the ethics of harvesting, and declaring keeping hungry people fed to be a central act of faith. The post-resurrection accounts of Luke share a couple of poignant resurrections accounts where food plays a central role in the disciples’ recognizing a Resurrected Christ. The first is one I often share with communion. On the day we call Easter, the women disciples saw two heavenly representatives at the tomb who told them Jesus is resurrected. The men disciples didn’t believe them until Peter went and verified their account that Jesus was no longer in the tomb. On the same day, two other disciples were walking to a village called Emmaus, and they met a man who they thought was a stranger on the road. It was Jesus. He asked them what they were talking about, and they shared their story about the death of Jesus at the hands of Rome and about how the women disciples told them he’d been resurrected. Upon hearing uncertainty in their voices, Jesus began to teach them. It is fascinating to me that they don’t recognize Jesus when he teaches them. You would think, with all the hours of teaching they had heard, through the months and months of his public ministry, that those words would have been familiar enough to shake loose their understanding so they could realize that Jesus was walking with them. But, it wasn’t Jesus’ words that helped them understand, it was his actions. Specifically, it was his blessing and sharing a meal with them that made his identity clear. Of course, Jesus, the one who told his disciples to feed the hungry and, also, invited them to share the bread and cup to remember him, would finally be recognized in his resurrected form when he shared food. That story is the story right before today’s reading. Once the two disciples recognize Jesus, he disappears before their eyes. They ran all the way back to Jerusalem to tell the rest of the disciples what had happened. While they were telling the eleven their story, Jesus stood among them. You might guess that he’d say, “be not afraid.” He says something close: “Peace be with you.” Understandably, the disciples don’t have a lot of peace in that moment. They are terrified and pretty sure they are seeing a ghost. Again, it is actions that bring a measure of clarity, not simply his words. María Teresa Dávila notes in her commentary on this chapter, even the loving power of the resurrection has not removed the marks left by torture on Jesus’ body. Jesus knows that his friends will know how he was harmed and invites them to look at and touch the places he was hurt, his hands and feet. “Ghosts don’t have flesh and bones,” he says. The next part is my favorite part. They are overjoyed but still unsure about what to make of his appearance, so he asks for some food. The subtext here is that ghosts can’t eat food, so he’s going to eat food with them to demonstrate that he is alive. Dávila points out in her commentary that lofty ideas such as “reconciliation and victory over injustice” always take place within the concrete realities of human bodies harmed by injustice. Salvation doesn’t take away scars from previous harm. In a similar manner, resurrection and renewed life require concrete sustenance and reconnected relationships to flourish. Ghosts don’t eat, but Jesus did. And his disciples did. And, upon his direction, they fed other people. Remember that story about the bread and the fishes? That miracle over a simple meal showed them something about who Jesus was. So, did this simple meal of broiled fish. To be clear, I did not see Jesus when I was eating my birria tacos. It was close, but, it wasn’t what happened to the disciples. I was reminded, though, of the unique joy that comes along with sharing a meal with people I care about. It is the memory of that kind joy and everyday connection that happens over food that appears that seems to have made the greatest impression on Jesus’ disciples. Dr. Jin Young Choi describes Jesus as being present in hospitality. I would argue that Christ in still present in our hospitality to this day. In the times when we share food with those who need it, fight for the workers who grow it and serve it, and welcome strangers into our churches, communities, and nation, we are enacting the hospitality that shows people who Jesus is. This might be the power God clothed the disciples with from on high.... the power to follow the work of Christ in our time, guided by his spirit. This week, I hope you get to have a meal that makes you see Jesus. Sustained by that meal, may you go forth, belly and heart full, as a witness to the power of resurrection and as a worker for the kin-dom of God. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Jin Young Choi: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-luke-2436b-48 María Teresa Dávila, "Third Sunday of Easter," Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year B, eds Ronald J. Allen, Dale P. Andrews, and Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011) Mark 16:9-15, 19-20 The Shorter Ending of Mark [[And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter. And afterwards Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. ]] The Longer Ending of Mark Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene [[Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. Jesus Appears to Two Disciples After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Jesus Commissions the Disciples Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The Ascension of Jesus So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it. ]] The Long Ending of Mark
“Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table, and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation… So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.” My friends, it is wonderful to be amongst you all again. Pastor Chrissy and I have joked that the Sunday after Easter will soon be known as “Sarah Sunday” at Winthrop Congregational Church. In the year since I last visited with you, I have taken more courses through the Maine School of Ministry, continued my work on the MESOM Advisory Team, and begun a chaplaincy internship at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick. My journey of pursuing my call has continued in new ways. That is also where we find ourselves in this, the first post-Easter service, looking to how we can pursue our call as disciples of Christ in a post-Resurrection world. Now, your reading last week, Mark 16:1-8 closes with the women being told by the white-robed man they do not recognize to leave the empty tomb, for Jesus is not there. He had told them to let the disciples and especially Peter know that Jesus would go ahead of them to Galilee, but what did they do? They leave the tomb and don't tell anyone because they're afraid. Fear and doubt are a common theme in the gospel of Mark and so it makes sense that this would be where Mark asked us to leave the story of Christ. We are left with people who are afraid, people who probably doubt what they've just seen and what they've heard from this mysterious figure. Now the reading that we heard today seems to fly in the face of this mysterious and doubt-filled ending. What we instead get is the rest of the story or so it would seem. What we might not know from hearing these verses is that this is very likely an addition to Mark’s Gospel from perhaps 200 years after the original text was completed, a text which ends with the verse you heard last week, the women who leave an empty tomb and tell no one, so we have to ask ourselves, why make this addition to the text? What is it about people that means that we can't sit with a story of Christ that features an ending centered on doubt and fear? In the original ending, the robed individual says that Jesus will go ahead of them to Galilee and that the disciples will meet him there. Now, Mark usually portrays a Christ who is true to his word and so when we read that Jesus will appear to them all in Galilee, and then we don’t get to hear about it happening, well, I don't know about you, but I would be upset. That can’t be how it ends! To make a comparison to a different epic story, it would be like having the Lord of the Rings end with Sam and Frodo having completed their goal of getting the one ring into the fires of Mount Doom, escaping the rising tide of lava as the mountain begins erupting, but then Tolkien deciding that he will just leave the story with them clinging to the rocks, happy to be free of the ring and completed their quest. We want, no, we need to see Gandalf fly down on the back of an eagle and rescue them both before the fires can claim them. We wouldn’t be happy to just know that the ring had been destroyed and Sauron had been defeated. We long for happy endings that tie up ALL the loose ends. There is a reason many people say “The Return of the King” has too many endings. The truth is, we want to know that it’s all been worth it and everyone’s stories have tidy endings. In that same way, we long for more stories about Jesus after Mark 16:8. If I were an early Christian, I would be shouting “That can’t be how it ends! Come on! Tell me everything you know!” Give me those 25 more minutes of climatic ending sequences! What we have in the added verses we read today is what Ched Meyers in his book “Binding the Strongman: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus” calls an “imperial rewriting of Mark”. This imperial rewriting symbolizes our unending efforts to domesticate the gospel. Meyer states that this longer ending represents the work of those who cannot see the meaning of chapter 16 verse eight as an invitation to which to respond, but only as a scandal that must properly be resolved. These rewriters are looking for a happy ending, not content with the ending Mark originally offers; one where we are left to wrestle with whether or not the women at the tomb (that is to say ourselves) overcame their fear in order to proclaim the new beginning in Galilee. Instead, they preferred to insert an ending that has neat closure and allows the reader to remain passive. In these added verses, we hear that the women did indeed speak to the disciples, but they were not believed, and after that, Jesus appeared to two more disciples who were walking into the country and they went back and told the rest, and they did not believe them either. Now, it would seem our imperial rewriters are not doing the best job here. I thought this was supposed to be the happy ending that set up the foundation of Christ’s kingdom on earth, but all these people don't seem to be believing what they're hearing. Well, then we get to Jesus himself showing up to the 11 as they are sitting at a table and berating them for their lack of faith and they're stubbornness because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen. To me, this is those imperial rewriters coming in and saying “Listen! We know you don't all understand and believe as much as we do so we're here to tell you that Jesus is really mad. If you don't believe in him and those who try to tell you about him, he might just shout at you for your stubbornness.” In fact, I left out a pretty sizable chunk of verses that, to me and most theologians, seem to subvert so much of what Mark’s original gospel is trying to say in place of providing the early Christian church with more imperialistic, measurable proofs of Christ’s power. Maybe this will sound familiar to you, but in verse 16 it says, “the one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned.” And one verse that we may be all know, verse 18, says that true-believing Christians “will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.” For a gospel that is otherwise almost entirely concerned with sacrifice and a suffering Christ and mystery and silence and misunderstandings, these verses seem to give very clear directions on what people need to do in order to both be a good Christian and then to go out and properly represent Christ and his power. I don't know about you all, but I'm about to go into the desert and pick up the first rattlesnake I see and see how my luck is!… Obviously, I'm not going to do that! So much of Mark’s Gospel refutes the idea of miracle working as being theological proof that Jesus is who we believe Jesus to be. It is easy to criticize the many efforts at Christian magic that are inspired by this text. Think of those folks in churches, particularly in Appalachia, who handle dangerous snakes during their service as a sign of their faith. This emphasis on miraculous Christian magic betrays Mark’s message by instead endorsing the idea that to be a Christian means to demonstrate visible power. You are taking one of the most dangerous creatures and lifting it up in your bare hands, you're drinking poison without fear of dying. You're showing off how powerful you are because you have been baptized and are now a Christian. There is suddenly an emphasis on the idea that, because you are a chosen, baptized person, you can do all of these amazing things. What this notion ignores is Mark’s rejection of those visible signs of power in favor of servanthood and sacrifice. So, given all of this, why did I decide to pick this as the reading for today, you might wonder. Well, as I said earlier, I like the fact that, even though this is an addition to Mark’s Gospel, it still embraces the idea of people reporting things and not being believed, not being fully understood. I like that the resurrected Christ is almost as much of a mystery as the Christ in the earlier portions of Mark's gospel, appearing to a select few people until he just can’t take the fact that his closest friends aren’t believing their fellow disciples when they hear of his encounters with their comrades. The disciples are just as useless in this additional writing as they are in the rest of the book, not understanding what Jesus is doing. I like the idea that we end with the disciples being told to proclaim the good news everywhere (even though they may struggle with doubt and not understand everything) and that, during their witnessing to the world, the Lord worked with them. Christ remains collaborative, even after his ascension to heaven. But I also picked this reading for all of the things that I don't like about it. I picked it in part for the verses that I did not have our liturgist share: the idea that someone looked at an ending of a gospel text and felt so lost, still felt like they did not have a good grip on Christ yet, and just wanted that happier ending. I understand wanting to have a list of things that you need to do and that you should do in order to best serve Christ after his resurrection and prove to those you meet that the power of Christian belief can be visibly demonstrated. I understand the desire for a risen Jesus who shows up and tells people who still don't believe the stories of others to stop being so stubborn! He really is not in that tomb anymore! I understand, wanting to have this earliest story of Christ’s ministry end with people actually seeing him being taken up into heaven and sitting at the right hand of God. Warren Carter and Amy-Jill Levine share that Mark’s original ending “maximizes reader engagement with the story. Readers are called to continue the story. [But it also] is not surprising that some early interpreters found this unresolved conflict to be unsatisfactory.” After nearly 200 years of questioning Mark’s ending, a choice was made by people like you and I to unify its closing narrative with the other gospels. Maybe this was a sign of a young faith seeking firm foundations and prescriptive sacraments around which to root their discipleship. A faith longing to model the empire all around it with signs of strength and visible power. But I also love the idea that Mark originally ends with a question mark. It invites us to consider what we would do in place of these frightened women running from a now empty tomb. We can put ourselves in their place and imagine telling others, "Now I know how this sounds, but…". In this post-Resurrection world, we are called to return to the beginning of the gospel, to Galilee, and share it with everyone; called to begin our own journey of discipleship in the model of Christ. We may not see a physical risen Christ in our midst, as the rewriters decided to include, but we must strive to follow his example as detailed right the way up to Mark 16:8, and pursue our call to be like him nonetheless. Indeed, as C. M. Tucket says in his commentary on the end of Mark: The rest of the gospel is to be completed by the reader, but the reader can only complete the story by following as a disciple of Mark's Jesus, and that means going to Galilee being prepared to follow in the way of discipleship as spelt out by him, i.e. the way of the cross. There, and only there will Jesus be seen and experienced. There is then no happy ending to the gospel… It is up to the reader to supply the ending – and that is the perennial challenge of this gospel to all its readers today. We do not always have experiences with neat and tidy happy endings. As humanity, we are sometimes forced to learn from the saddest of stories and find the hope and the love in them wherever we can. We must continue to wrestle with tales that leave us wanting clearer answers. And while we may never catch a glimpse of Jesus literally sitting at God’s right hand, we can certainly hold fast to the belief that he is working right along with us as we strive to live a life of discipleship like his own, one rooted not just in signs of visible power, but in the strength of sacrificial love and servanthood to all of creation. Amen. Sources consulted for this sermon: Carter, Warren, and Amy-Jill Levine. The New Testament: Methods and Meanings. Abingdon Press, 2013. Coogan, Michael David, et al. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version; with the Apocrypha; an Ecumenical Study Bible. Oxford University Press, 2018. Myers, Ched. Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus. 2nd ed., Orbis Books, 2008. Tuckett, C.M. “Commentary on Mark.” The New Oxford Bible Commentary, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 2001, pp. 886–922. Mark 16:1-8 The Resurrection of Jesus When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. They had to have told someone, right? We know that the book we call Mark wasn’t written down live as it happened. The author wasn’t a court stenographer or me sharing my reactions to a show I like on social media. The book we call Mark is a product of memory, curation, inspiration, and faithful labor produced well after the events it describes. One of my favorite things about comparing the four Gospels is considering the message the author hopes us to find within its sermons, parables, and miracles. As a person whose job it is, in part anyway, to tell stories and read stories and listen to stories, it is interesting for me to consider how the discovery of the resurrection is so different in Mark than in the other three Gospels. If you were telling a story with as wild an ending as resurrection from the dead, would you then turn around and have the heroes of the story be too scared to tell anyone what happened?
Maybe I’m exaggerating a little in calling Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ mom Mary, and Salome heroes. I don’t think I’m exaggerating much though! In his introduction to Mark, Richard Horsley, when comparing the women disciples to the 12 men disciples, says that the women “serve as models of faithfulness.” Unlike we who show up on Easter morning expecting a Resurrection, these women came to the tomb assuming they would only find the dead. In her commentary on this text, Cheryl Lindsay describes what they are doing as the “unfinished work of caring for the dead body of Jesus.” It is necessary and valuable work that is also difficult and heartbreaking, and yet, they show up to tend to the One They Love. They are assuming that they are arriving to do what Lindsay calls “a final act of honor, care, and presence” in spite of the danger that could have lingered after Rome sentenced him to death. Instead, what they become is witnesses. Léoncienne Labonté says of these women, “The dead don’t scare them.” But, that young man in white sure does! Which is fair! I would have been alarmed, too! It doesn’t matter that, as Cheryl Lindsay notes, the Gospel of Mark shares predictions that Jesus will rise from the dead three times (8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34), the women who had been so faithful still didn’t expect the tomb to no longer contain Jesus. This angelic figure says what so many angels end up saying in Bible stories, “Do not be afraid.” The word that is translated as “alarmed” in the translation that we heard today carries with it a sense of being amazed, but not in a totally joyful way. Instead, according to Aubrey West, “alarmed” means something more like “overwhelmed by surprise or perplexity.” She goes on to say, “Nothing they see (or do not see) makes sense.” Even though Jesus had tried to tell them, I’m not sure they could have truly prepared for the empty tomb and angelic presence they found. I’m not sure that they could have truly prepared for the words “he is going ahead of you to Galilee.” Mark is the only one of the four Gospels where we don’t see Jesus after the resurrection. Now, if you open the Bibles in your pews, you might see that there are some post-resurrection encounters that might be under a heading that says something like “the shorter ending of Mark” and “the longer ending of Mark.” But scholars generally agree these were added on later. The oldest versions of Mark that we have don’t include them. While John has Jesus comforting the ones who came to the tomb, and Luke has Jesus appearing as a traveler his friends don’t immediately recognize, and Matthew has Jesus being the one telling the women not to be afraid and telling the men “I am with you always,” Aubrey West points out, Mark has the simple promise that Jesus is going ahead of them. Even though we’re pretty sure that the last thing the author wrote is that the faithful women run from the tomb in terror and amazement, what could be the end actually opens up for us a new beginning. A story’s meaning doesn’t only come from the writer. It also comes from those who hear it. When you hear that the faithful ran away and said nothing to anyone, I hope you will remember that we are here as a reminder that they must have finally moved through their fear and told the truth of what they saw. Even though, as Cheryl Lindsay points out, Mark leaves the story of what they say to be told by others, we have heard the promise that Jesus goes before us. Audrey West offers up what I think is helpful insight: there is no place, including death, that Jesus’ followers can go where “Jesus isn’t already there.” Mark isn’t showing a story of Jesus’ abandoning his followers, but instead repeating his first instruction to them, the instruction to follow. As you think about the meaning of Mark’s resurrection story for your life at this moment, I hope you’ll take this promise to heart. Even as we carry grief and pain in our hearts, even as our actions are shaped by fear, even as we are overwhelmed and confused, Jesus is known by his promises. He has promised to go ahead of us into the worst we can imagine and show us a way through. May we hear this promise and know that we can follow, even when we have to take a break because we are afraid. The story hasn’t yet ended. It is up to us to tell the next part. John 12:12-16 Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into JerusalemThe next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord-- the King of Israel!’ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is one of those stories that happens in all four of the Gospels. But, there are some interesting differences in how they tell the story. Sometimes there are two donkeys and sometimes there is one. Does anyone remember which story has two donkeys? Matthew! In Matthew, Jesus sends two disciples into a village where they will find the donkey and her colt. If the owner objects, the two disciples are supposed to say, “the Lord needs them” (which is also what they are supposed to tell people in Luke). Matthew also tells us that Jesus did this to fulfill two prophecies, one from Isaiah and one from Zechariah. The Zechariah one has the colt and the mother donkey.
In Mark, it says Jesus sent two disciples, too. But, there’s only one donkey, a young one this time. And, Jesus tells them to tell anyone who asks why they are taking it that “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” It’s really nice for Jesus to make sure they knew that they’d get the donkey back. Mark, like Matthew and Luke, says that the disciples let Jesus use their cloaks like a saddle for the donkey. All four Gospels say that the people who see Jesus coming get excited and clear the way for him, by doing something to the road. Does anyone remember what they do? Mark and Matthew says they lay down their cloaks and leafy branches. Luke says they just laid down cloaks. John is the only Gospel that says they laid down palm leaves. That’s where we get the name of the holiday from... today’s reading from John. Why was it so important for Jesus to be shown going to Jerusalem that each of the four Gospel writers included it in their accounting of Jesus’ life? Hope. It’s for hope. Because the people have been waiting for a leader for a long time. And, they thought there would be some signs that the leader had come. Jesus was going to be different that they expected. He always had been. This entry into Jerusalem needs to show people that Jesus is the leader the people had been hoping for, but it also had to show clearly that he would be different. This is no Roman governor on a military steed. This is Jesus, on a borrowed donkey, showing that God’s kindom will come through humility, not military might. The national and religious history that Jesus was born into assumed that God appointed monarchs for the people. David was an important one. In the wake of generations of traumatic wars, his people had come to understand that God could and would save them through a ruler descended from David. Each of the Gospels describe Jesus as the sovereign the people had been waiting for. In John, it says that the people shouted “Hosanna!” Cheryl Lindsay, in her commentary on this text, reminds us that Hosanna means “save us,” something you might say to a monarch or you might say to God. The people also shouted, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord- the king of Israel!” Even on a borrowed donkey, Jesus is called “king.” What kind of king rides into town on a donkey, a sign of humility and peace according to Lindsay Jodrey. The Jesus kind, I guess. Or, maybe the Zechariah kind. And, even though he looked different than any royal they had seen, the crowd knew enough about Jesus to believe that he could save them. Cheryl Lindsay, in her commentary on the text, points out that the crowd who is called “great” in the reading somehow managed to not arouse too much suspicion from the Roman authorities. Remember, Rome was always on the lookout for possible rebellions during Passover, sending extra soldiers there in case the people got too inspired by the liberatory stories of Exodus and tried to throw off the yoke of the empire. You’d expect the soldiers to squash a parade by someone claiming to be a rival monarch to Caesar. Jesus is clearly evoking images of a monarch in his entry into Jerusalem. I wonder if the reason this parade doesn’t irritate the Romans is because it is not for them. None of Jesus’ actions are intended to inspire either irritation or hope to the Roman soldiers and politicians. This is a sign for Jesus’ people, not the Empire. The people who had the eyes to see... who knew the stories of the prophets... they were the ones Jesus was doing this for. And the humility of this parade: a donkey, a traveling teacher and his friends, branches quickly gathered... of that is to help his people, and the people who would later follow him, know him better. And, understand how he would wield power differently than Rome, and, frankly, differently than David. The author of John tells us that Jesus’ friends don’t really understand everything that’s going on at the time of the triumphal entry. Their understanding only comes later, after they’ve witnessed Jesus glorified. They will have to go through the fear of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion, before they understand. They will have to experience the awe of the Resurrection in order to look back and see this parade clearly. What I hope what they realized after the Resurrection was that Jesus was not afraid to say who he was to the people who needed him the most. He was not afraid to speak and act in ways that were meaningful mostly to them. While he never hid from Rome, he also knew that Rome ultimately had no real power over him. Even their cruel crucifixion wouldn’t stop him in any way that mattered. On Palm Sunday, we remember the way that Jesus would not be stopped by fear of the ones who had greater military power over him. And he wouldn’t be stopped by the fear of his followers who didn’t understand why he had to be so clear in his mission, even in the face of great danger. There is much to fear these days. But, Jesus shows us that we can’t let it stop us from showing up for the people who need his love and justice. Frank Herbert once said, “I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” May we pass through the fear with Christ, and into the Reign of God he is building in this time and this place. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Cheryl Lindsay: https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/sermon-seeds-fear/ Lindsay Jodrey: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/the-crucified-messiah-opt-triumphal-entry/commentary-on-john-1212-27-1916b-22-3 John 12. 20-33 Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour. Jesus Speaks about His Death ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. Single grains? What’s all this talk of single grains? Is this some kind of recipe? Are we talking about cereal? Cereal is good, but that’s not what we’re talking about this time. We’re talking about seeds and what it takes to grow.
We’ve already heard one story that took place around Passover back at the beginning of John. Now it’s a different Passover and it is closer to the end. As we get closer, you will see Jesus prepare his friends for what’s coming. And, you will see Jesus meet new people who need to see him to understand him. In today’s reading, he does both. You might expect this reading to come after next week’s. This is an encounter that follows the events we call Palm Sunday. But, Holy Week is full. We should talk about this now. Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay reminds us in her commentary on this text that when we talk about a grain, we are talking about a seed, and often a particular kind of seed with hard covering we might call a hull. The hull protects parts of the seed that will become a plant. That part’s called the germ. In order for the germ to grow into a plant, the hull has to break. If the hull isn’t broken open under the right conditions (in good soil, with water and light to coax it out), the plant can’t grow. The grain can never become more grains. It will simply exist as a dried-up bit of potential. It will have no new life. This story is to tell us that the hull is about to be broken open. At this Passover, some Greek people wanted to meet Jesus. Alicia Myers says in her commentary that they were probably Gentile God-fearers who followed some Jewish teachings, including going to the temple for Passover. Cheryl Lindsay is inclined to read them as Greek Jews, given that the author of John was writing to an audience of Jewish people who followed Jesus, it’s more likely that they are intended to be Jewish. Either way, they had heard about Jesus, and came to Philip to ask “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” The teaching that Jesus would offer them and the rest of the crowd gathered that day would be the last bit of public teaching he would offer. I’m not sure what the Greeks were expecting when they went looking for Jesus. I have a feeling that they hoped to hear his wise and strange parables or receive healing. That’s what many people looked for when they came to see Jesus. I’m not sure that they or the disciples were prepared for Jesus to speak of his death or of his troubled soul. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies it bears much fruit.” It is not always easy to grow. There’s more than one parable about seeds not having the right conditions to grow into healthy plants. Sometimes seeds fall on hard places, like rocks, and get eaten before they have the chance to grow. Sometimes they fall in places where they only have a little of what they need, and start to grow, but can’t flourish. I once saw a tomato plant growing out of a gap in a sidewalk in the middle of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Sure, it had some dirt and water and light. But I don’t think it was going to produce much. Some seeds, like giant sequoia seeds, even need fire to help them flourish. The fire opens up space for saplings on the ground, helps to break open the cones the seeds form in for protection, and clears away leaf litter so the seeds land on the bare dirt they need. If you’re like me, it’s hard to look at a burned- up forest and remember that the fire is a necessary thing. The seed can’t become trees without it. A good leader gives their team the opportunity to opt out of a hard action. Not every seed is made for the fire. Not everyone is willing to be in the dirt. Jesus says that a seed must fall in the dirt. A hull must be broken. No fruit can come without a change... a loss of the seed’s original form. “Those who love their life must lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” To truly grow, the grain must return to the dark earth, and trust that it will find the resources within the dark earth to nurture it into new life. Barbara Brown Taylor once said, “The great hope in the Christian message is not that you will be rescued from the dark but if you are able to trust God all the way into the dark, you may be surprised.” To follow Jesus is to become a seed, broken open in the rich darkness, fed by what we find there, reaching for the light that we hope is beyond. Rev. Dr. Lindsay says, “Jesus did not come to be a single grain.” Even in the moment when Jesus tells the gathered crowd that his heart is troubled, what is weighing on him will not stop him. John, more so than any other Gospel, shows Jesus fully aware of what loyalty to his mission will mean for him. Just because he is troubled, he isn’t looking for reassurance that he is on the right path. He knows he is. And, the voice from above helps make sure his disciples also know. What will come may seem like the end. It won’t be. This question of Christians seems quite pressing: what is preventing us from following Christ into the rich darkness of this current time? What hull is surrounding us, offering a measure of protection while we mature, is no longer of use. Rev. Dr. Lindsay says, “A single grain may be comforted within its protective shell.” But, a seed in a hull of comfort and stability cannot grow. In this scripture, Jesus isn’t telling his followers to be as comfortable as possible. He tells them that they must be ready to be broken open in the darkness of the Holy What’s Next. What this world needs now is seeds ready to grow through conflict into peace. As Rev. Dr. Lindsay says, “our privilege, power, and prestige may be used for this hour.” May we cease to protect a single grain. May we let that grain fall, trusting that the Living Water will grow in us many grains for the nourishment of this world. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Cheryl Lindsay: https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/sermon-seeds-single-grains/ Karoline Lewis:
An interview with Barbara Brown Taylor: https://religionnews.com/2014/04/14/barbara-brown-taylor-encourages-christians-embrace-darkness/ Alicia D. Myers: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-in-lent-2/commentary-on-john-1220-33-5 Image credits: Cross with serpent: Fantoni, Giovanni. Brazen Serpent, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55664 [retrieved March 7, 2024]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brazen_Serpent_Sculpture.jpg. Moses and serpent: West, Benjamin, 1738-1820; Hall, John, 1739-1797. The Macklin Bible -- Moses, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54084 [retrieved March 7, 2024]. John 3.14-21 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. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’ Every three years, today’s reading from John shows up in the lectionary cycle. And, every three years I notice that this scripture contains one of the strangest metaphorical explanations of who Jesus is in any Gospel as well as one of the most well-known verses in American Christianity. When we see a verse that is as immediately recognizable as John 3:16, it is tempting to gloss over it because we think we know what it means. I’m going to invite us to not read over the familiar too quickly today. So, let’s start with the less familiar part of this reading and work our way to what we know and see if we can learn something new. Let’s start with the thing about the snake.
The story of Moses and the bronze serpent is in Numbers 21. I don’t blame you if the Exodus stories of Numbers is not as familiar to you as the Exodus stories of, well, Exodus. Numbers is mostly set in the wilderness travels of the Exodus. Within the wilderness stories, a reader will also find lots of descriptions of Jewish religious laws beyond the 10 Commandments and lots of descriptions of Moses acting as a mediator between God and the people. The story about the serpent starts out similar to the more familiar story about manna in the desert, which means it starts with people worrying that they won’t have enough to eat and even wondering if maybe they weren't better off in Egypt. The thing is, the snake story is not at the beginning of the Exodus. It comes after 40 years of God tending to them in the wilderness. You would think that would have been enough to show them that God would provide for them. And, yet, Numbers tells us that the people became impatient and afraid. So, they did what impatient people often do... they complained. While Cameron B.R. Howard points out in her commentary that the scriptures don’t specifically say God sent the snakes to punish the complainers, it sure looks like God did. Especially since the book of Exodus talks about plagues of critters God sent after Pharaoh. I am inclined to think that this whole “God sent the snakes” thing says more about how people try to explain away difficult events than it says about the actual character of God. Nevertheless, we should pay attention to how the people in the story explained a weird and scary thing that happened in their community. The people in the desert thought God sent down a bunch of poisonous snakes. Having tons of venomous snakes around seems like an accident waiting to happen, which is an unusual kind of plague, largely because snakes don’t typically hurt people unless we are messing with them. Typically, when you live with something so dangerous as this plague of snakes, I’d think you’d develop a habit of vigilance. Even with vigilance, though, people are still bitten. Enough people were being bitten that the whole community grew afraid. This time, though, they blamed themselves for the problem, not God. They said that they had messed up by speaking against God and against Moses. They begged Moses to intervene with God and get rid of the snakes. Moses, true to his role in Numbers, intervened on their behalf. God does help, but not in the way the people expected. God doesn't take away the snakes, but God does give the people a way to be healed when they do run afoul of a snake. God had them build a bronze serpent and mount it up on a pole. When they looked at the serpent, they were healed. This is a wild desert story, right? And, as best as I can tell, one that isn’t cited often in other parts of the Bible. Stories from the Exodus that carry a lot of weight in a community, like the manna and quail or the golden calf and the Ten Commandments, are regularly referenced beyond their original telling. Aside from the Psalms and other prophetic books referencing the fact that the people got angry or scared and complained to God, which, frankly happened a lot of times in Exodus and Numbers, there are only two references to Moses and the bronze serpent outside of Numbers: one in 2 Kings 8:14 and the other in John 3:14. If the snake on a stick story is one that is not referenced broadly across Jewish scripture, isn’t it interesting that the author of John has Jesus describing the Son of Man, a phrase he uses to reference himself, this way. What a strange choice. Cheryl Lindsay reminds us of something useful in her commentary on this scripture. Today’s reading isn’t from a big speech Jesus is giving a whole crowd of people. It’s from a conversation he is having with one person, a pharisee named Nicodemus. In his notes on this chapter, Obery Hendricks says that the Pharisees observed Jewish purity laws more carefully that all other groups of Jewish believers. I think Jesus and the Pharisees founds themselves arguing so frequently because both he and they took living out their religious obligations seriously. If either of them cared less, they might not have so frequently found themselves in opposition. Perhaps Jesus references an obscure story about Moses precisely because it was from the book of Numbers. Numbers is a book about, at least in part, the instructions for shaping your life according to love of God and love of neighbor. When speaking to someone who cares deeply about the Law, you demonstrate that you, too, know the Law, even the weird parts of it, as a way to build trust and affinity. Maybe that’s why Jesus’ uses this story while talking to Nicodemus. Nicodemus visits Jesus in the dead of night because he is afraid someone will see him. The story of the serpent plague is certainly a story about fear, particularly about the ways that fear can push you back into modes of behavior based on scarcity. It can keep you from embracing the walk to freedom through the desert and settling the certainty of slavery with the Pharoah. It can even make you hide away at night, rather than approach new understanding in the light of day. Nicodemus is afraid of being condemned for even entertaining the idea that Jesus will bring insight as to how to live according to God’s covenant. And, yet, even in his fear, he seeks Jesus out. In the verses just before today’s reading, Nicodemus asks Jesus questions about where his power comes from and for clarification on some of his more metaphorical teachings about the nature of faith. Today’s reading is part of Jesus’ response. And, part of his response is that he believes that his mission is to be an instrument of healing, not condemnation. One of the most well-known parts of this passage is verse 16. I’ll share Wil Gafney’s translation of it: “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” I am quite familiar with readings of this verse that hold Jesus up as a grand arbiter who is quick to send people to eternal damnation. If those who believe will have eternal life, some argue, the subtext is that those who don’t believe will be condemned to eternal suffering. In a commentary on this passage, Karoline Lewis encourages us not to stop at 16, but to keep reading. The rest of the passage has a more complex view of condemnation. And, it is clear that Jesus is to be held up as a passageway for divine healing, not condemnation. It may not be the kind of healing people expected. Certainly, the bronze serpent was not what the Israelites expected in the desert. Dr. Lindsay argues that verse 17, which says, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him,” makes it clear that condemnation is antithetical to ministry of Christ. If we are using Jesus’ words primarily to condemn other people to poverty, isolation, and suffering, we are operating outside of his mission. If we allow our fear to limit us to hidden, creeping encounters with Jesus, we will find ourselves like Nicodemus, with a glancing awareness of God’s radiant love, but an inability to fully step into it. What the world sees in Jesus is healing, not condemnation. What the world should see reflected in Jesus’ followers is healing not condemnation. We never see Nicodemus again in John, or in any other Gospel, with the subtext being that he was too afraid to live in faith in full view of those who judge him. How sad that is for him. May we make a different choice and hold up Jesus’ love for the world to see. And, may the world be changed by it. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Cameron B. R. Howard’s commentary on Numbers 21:4-9: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3606 Karoline Lewis: http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=5075 Cheryl Lindsay: https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/sermon-seeds-condemnation/ Obery Hendricks’s notes on John in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) |
AuthorPastor Chrissy is a native of East Tennessee. She and her wife moved to Maine from Illinois. She is a graduate of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University and Chicago Theological Seminary. Archives
March 2024
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