Plural

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday May 29, 2011, the 6th Sunday in Easter.

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Acts 17:22-31

Psalm 66:8-20

1Peter 3:13-22

John 14:15-21

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

As I have said before, all translation is interpretation. One of the shortcomings of English is that we don’t have different words for “you” as a singular person and “you” as a group of people. God bless Texas for giving the English language “y’all” and “all y’all.” If the English translation editors of scripture would just use one of these that limitation would be eliminated. This is where we enter our Gospel reading this morning.

Jesus says, “If you love me you will obey what I command.” This is relatively easy to figure out when you think of “you” in the singular. It’s not always easy to do, but it’s easy to figure out. I am called to do what Jesus commands. I am called to follow his commandments. When I do this, this is the sign that I love God. Wonderful! Glorious!

I’m responsible for my own actions. I am responsible for my walk with God. I am responsible for how I live my life. But when taken to the extreme, this means that I am not my brother’s keeper. I don’t have any responsibility beyond my own reach. What I do is my business and what you do is your business.

Jesus says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth.” On the request of my Lord and Savior, the Father will send the Spirit of Truth to be with me forever. I will forever be led and instructed and counseled by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God’s Truth, the one and only Holy Spirit of God. I will be equipped to receive the truth.

What I receive will not be the first counselor either, it will be another. This means that I have already received the Counselor of God once. This is a blessing I have received and will receive again.

He continues, “You will know him because he lives with you and will be in you.” Not only will God be sent to me, not only will God equip me, not only will God counsel me; God will dwell in me. Jesus promises that the Spirit of Truth will take up residence in little ole me.

I will be privy to God’s plans and God’s wisdom as the Spirit of Truth counsels me. Of course this means that if any one of you disagrees with me, you disagree with God. But that’s tough toenails because I have received the Spirit of Truth. God’s right, you’re wrong, and that’s that.

The Lord Jesus promises “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.” Now this is a little rabbinical jargon, for a Rabbi to leave a disciple as an orphan means that the Rabbi has died. The student may or may not have parents, but the spiritual and intellectual parent is gone. Jesus promises that this won’t happen. He will not leave me behind. This is promised in word and realized in the resurrection.

Taken to back to that extreme, because He lives, I will never be without my teacher. I will forever be in his presence. I guess it’s just so sad if you aren’t there too.

He promises “Because I live, you also will live.”

You see where I’m going with this by now. When we look at all of these promises in the singular, when “you” becomes “me” and “people like me” my tunnel vision becomes dangerously narrow. It’s the sort of shortsightedness that has led people to do horrible things in the name of God.

This is the kind of thinking that brought the world the Knights Templar. This is the kind of thinking that brought the world the crusades. It’s the sort of thinking that brought the Spanish Inquisition. It’s the kind of thinking that brought the Klan.

It’s this sort of narrow vision that brings the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka and brings them out of the woodwork to share what the Rev. Fred Phelps calls “God’s message” at the most horrible of our nation’s tragedies. In fact according to their website, today they are picketing “the Beast Obama” in Joplin, Missouri. They also say the last week’s tornadoes were God’s way of “paying back” Oklahoma.[1] (Honestly I don’t know how or why they post that and I just couldn’t bring myself to click the link and find out.)

On this Presbyterian Heritage Sunday I honestly say that this is one of the things I like about Presbyterian Polity. The way the Church is organized, it is impossible for one single person to get the kind of traction required to lead a congregation like a single person can lead a congregationally governed church or a church run by a single Bishop or Cardinal. Decision making in the Presbyterian Church is made locally by the Session, regionally at the Presbytery, and nationally through the General Assembly. Each of these is made up of several and many individuals from the local groups so that one person cannot be vested with too much power.

I have made fun of “seeking the will of God by majority rule,” but it’s better than having one person vested with the power to let a single vision overwhelm the will of God. But this majority rule is important for another reason. That reason takes us back to our reading.

In the first six verses of our reading from John’s gospel the “you” Jesus is speaking to is not an individual. It’s not even to each of the individual listeners. What’s missing in English that’s present in the Greek is that Jesus is speaking not to “you” in the singular; he’s speaking to “all y’all” in the plural.

So this is the kicker, Jesus is telling not just you or me but you and me that as the church we show God our love by following his commands. Jesus is speaking to the community of believers. Jesus is speaking to the church.

Jesus is telling the church that if we love him we will obey what he commands. This isn’t a cause-and-effect thing. Love is not the reward for our obedience. It’s not “if we obey God he will love us,” it’s when we love him we will obey. Obedience is a sign of love not the other way around. In fact, it is impossible to love and be disobedient.

This is another sticking point. What exactly does Jesus mean when he says “what I command”?

There are a lot of commands in scripture. There’s the first command humanity received in the garden in Genesis, “don’t eat that.” We didn’t get very far with that one. There are also the “Heavy Ten,” the Ten Commandments. When Rabbi’s analyzed the first five books of scripture, what we call the Torah or the Pentateuch, they find 613 distinct laws or mitzvah.

Honestly, that’s a lot of laws to keep straight.

In the book of Mark, Jesus tells us what his most important commands are. When quizzed on this by a scribe Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

How’s that for the circle of life? Jesus says if we love him we will keep his commands and he says that the first command is to love the Lord you God and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. If we love him we will obey him, to obey him is to love him and our neighbor as ourselves. This is why the Spirit of Truth lives in the church, the Body of Christ. This is God’s call to the church.

As you know, we’re not a very free-flowing church. We follow a bulletin that lays out the order of worship. There are places in the order for the inbreaking of the Holy Spirit, but scheduling the Holy Spirit is just as silly as it sounds.

But there is one very intentional moment we make together. When we all come together and after Mr. Al does the announcements, we begin worship by welcoming the Light of Christ into the sanctuary. Brionna brings the light, after all it’s like scripture says, a little child will lead us. Then as Mr. Al says before we sing our last hymn, after we receive the charge and benediction, we follow the Light of Christ into the world. We follow the light. This is why it is customary to allow the light to leave the sanctuary first so that we can follow the light.

We do this as a congregation and we also do this as individuals. We do this as individuals because our reading this morning does not stop at verse twenty. Where the first six verses in our reading are plural, speaking to us as the Church; the “you” in the last verse of our reading is singular.

The first words to us as individuals are not so different from the words we hear as the church. “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” This comes with all of the pitfalls I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon, but it also comes tempered with the wisdom of the ages written in scripture, it also comes with the wisdom of the church interpreting scripture. This too is a part of our Presbyterian heritage. As the church and as individuals we are called to know and obey the Christ, this is how we show our love for him.

By obeying God we show that we love God and God loves us too. Again as much as this seems like a cause-and-effect relationship, God never works that way. God creates because God loves and wants to share life, eternal life, with creation.

God loves us first, but not like a good old fashioned unrequited middle school crush.  God doesn’t stop loving us. God created life out of love, and when we return that love it grows and becomes so much more than we could ever hope or imagine.

So today, when we go from this place, let Brionna lead us as a church and each of us as individuals as she bears the light. Let us be our brother’s keeper. Let us be instructed by the Holy Spirit of Truth who comes as our next counselor. We are not orphans because God lives. And because God lives we live, both as the church and as individuals. Follow the light into the world where we as the church and we as the individual people of God live into the love of Christ.

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[1] http://godhatesfags.com retrieved May 28, 2011.

Wedding in Cana/Wedding in Marshall

This homily was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas during the celebration of the wedding ceremony of Cody and Martin. Praise God and may you have a wonderful and glorious marriage.

John 2:1-11

The service started at around 3:00 this afternoon. You know what that means don’t you? Yadira knows, so does Martin, and so do a good many of us here in this sanctuary. We know what 3:00 means. It’s Happy Hour at Sonic! Maybe you stopped by there yourself lately to order one or two of those 398,929 drink combinations.

Martin and Yadira know well what this means because this is how they met. Martin was working at the tire store just on the other side of Grand Avenue from here and Yadira was working as a carhop at the Sonic. On those hot Texas afternoons, Martin would drop in for one of those 398,929 drinks. Soon he would come by the Sonic for more than just a half-price drink. Those were the first steps of their life together which leads us all to where we are today, joining them in this next step they take together.

It is a joy to share that the first reported miracle of our Lord Jesus Christ was at the wedding at Cana. In the day it would be a great shame on the new family and their social standing if they were to run out of food or drink at a celebration, especially at their own wedding. Jesus knew this and on an even more personal level so did his mother Mary. This is why Mary was so concerned when she heard the party had run out of wine.

Jesus knew it was not his time, but as is true with all mothers, the mother of the Lord God could convince him to do the right thing even when he was not sure was his time. His mother told the servants to follow the lead of the Son.

He had them take some jars and fill them with water and then take the contents to the chief steward for him to taste. He was overwhelmed and told the groom that nobody brings out the good wine after everyone was toasted and this was the best he had ever had. It’s true, the host never brings out the good stuff after everyone is drunk.

Jesus shows us two things, first is that he wants only the best for all God's people. The second is that in Christ there is more than enough to go around. Jesus chooses a wedding, a wedding like the one we celebrate today, to promise life eternal and overflowing love.

It started with one drink, one of the abundant 398,929 combinations. Today it brings us to the wedding of Yadira and Martin. What started as a drink is now the promise of life eternal together shared with the blessing of our Lord and Savior. What began at Happy Hour with a large (or maybe a Route 44) drink is now the overflowing love Yadira and Martin share together in the love of Christ who shares his life with us. Life that overflows with only the best.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you both now and forever. Amen.

Facts

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday May 22, 2011, the 5th Sunday of Easter.

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Acts 7:55-60

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

1Peter 2:2-10

John 14:1-14

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

When I was in college my fraternity brothers and I played a stupid game. At the dawn of what we call “basic cable” The USA Network was more than reruns of NCIS and Law and Order: You Pick ‘Em. They showed reruns of Dragnet. For those of you who aren’t snickering, Dragnet was a late ‘60’s police procedural drama that focused on Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Detective Bill Gannon. In the first minute of the show Sergeant Friday would tell the audience what the day was, what the weather was in Los Angeles, what division they were working out of, who his partner was and who he was.

So when I was in college, my idea of amusment was sitting in the basement of a fraternity house with six guys waiting to hear “It was the tenth of October, it was sunny in Los Angeles, we were working out of bunko, my partner is Bill Gannon, my name is Friday.” Our stupid game was to guess the date of the trial at the end of the show. Thanks, I’m much better now.

One of the trademarks of the series was was labored dialogue, but what stuck out was Jack Webb’s vocal delivery. It was low key, barely varied in pitch or tempo, but there was still something very distinctive. So when the witnesses they were interviewing would make a side comment or follow a rabbit hole in the dialogue, the Sergeant would say “Just the facts” in a quick, curt, business like way.

Fifty years later, “Just the facts”[1] is still the trademark of the show. Looking at today’s gospel reading, I got this feeling of just the facts. There are a lot of facts in the narrative.

Here’s the first fact we get in our reading today, in the Father’s house there are many rooms. Since the dawn of the faith, Jews identified “the Father’s house” with a heavenly dwelling place. This is clearly the image that Jesus is using. There are enough rooms in the Father’s house. This is the first fact.

The narrative moves on when Jesus says “you know the way to the place where I am going.” What the editor doesn’t say is that this is a setup. Jesus hopes someone will ask what he means so he can switch the conversation to a new way of living as the family of God. Thomas takes the bait and Jesus sets the hook. Thomas says “we don’t know the way” which leads Jesus to the second fact, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. This is followed by the fact that no one comes to the Father except through him.

But there is always more to the facts than simply meets the eye. To be useful facts demand interpretation.

As we talk about the Father’s house we miss a very important part of the picture. When we look at the Father’s house image, we think of heaven, the final eternal reward, but this is not what Jesus means. Referring back to John 8:35, Jesus says “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.” The Greek word the New International Version translates as “family” in 8:35 is translated in 14:2 as house. These editors understood that the house of God is the family of God and could have easily written “the Father’s family” instead of “the Father’s house.”

What this means to us is that where we know that a house has rooms; what we don’t so much get out of the translation is that Jesus was not talking about a physical location in the afterlife, he was talking this life and relationship with him and with the Father. This passage can be poorly interpreted to mean that in heaven there are more than enough rooms for each of us to have our own view of the beach and the mountains. What it means is that God has so much love that we are sons and daughters in the heavenly family. It means that God’s love is never ending and overflowing.

Jesus says that he is going there to prepare our place. Another way to say this is Jesus intercedes for us. The resurrection is often described as the lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of the world. This is how Jesus intercedes for us. This was the final earthly action preparing a place for us. His sacrifice makes it possible for us to take our place as children of God.

This revelation also points to the truth Jesus shares when he says I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Their relationship is so full and so glorious that while the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father, they are so close that they and their work are in complete harmony. This is the relationship Jesus came to show us. This is the relationship that we are called to share with him and with one another.

Looking at Jesus saying “I am the way, the truth, and the life;” he uses the ancient name of God and describes himself as God and then he says more. He begins with the way. This word literally means “the path” or “the road” not “the way we do things.” In a more literary way, it means a journey. We are called to take this life voyage as Jesus traveled it. We are to walk with his holy wise compassion. We are called to work to reconcile creation to God. Anything less is not the path God intends.

When we say he is “the truth,” we think of factual truth. This is right for as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. When Jesus says he is the truth he says he is reliable and he is faithful, which is much more than factually correct. When Jesus says he is the truth, he says he is truth personified as he is God personified. By him God’s truth is accessible to all. By him truth is the reality of the fully human fully divine Messiah.

When we say that he is the life, we say that he is life eternal. What is amazing is that while we will never know what it means to be fully divine, we won’t know what it means to be fully human either. Jesus is more human than we can hope to be. He lives in the way we cannot live without his real presence in our lives. He is the life that he wants us to live. He is the life that he shares. He is the life we are called to share.

Again, we know the facts of “the way, the truth, and the life,” but until we look at them in the light that shines beyond simple facts, we don’t know our Lord as well as God desires.

There is one more piece to this, when Jesus says no one comes to the Father except through me. Nineteen hundred years after these words were written we look at them through the eyes of our lives and our faith, not the lives of those who first heard them. We need to get past the facts we read in English and find their truth. That’s what makes this difficult to hear.

When we look at this phrase, we read it to mean that Jesus is the only way to God. When we read the passage this way what it means is that we’re right. We’re in church, we worship God, we’re right. We’re right and anyone who doesn’t agree with us is wrong. But that should never be our benchmark. The cornerstone of the church is not that we are right about anything. The foundation of our faith must always be God is right.

So those who heard this letter didn’t hear it the way we hear it today. What this meant when it was written is that the claims Jesus makes, the truth he tells, is the full expression of the complete revelation the authors of John’s gospel received. It was how they had experienced the Father and the Son, and what it means to be a member of the church. It means that they are no longer a part of the Jewish community. It means that they are no longer part of the gentile community either. It means that in the community of Christ where no one comes to the Father except through the Son.

Yes, this truth does establish boundaries. It says this is who we are and this is how we understand God. It says who we are. It doesn’t say a word about who anybody else is.

It says that through a man named Jesus of Nazareth God reveals his holy presence and the means to reconciliation with God the Father Almighty. It says that salvation comes through the Son. It says this is the particular truth that separates Christians from all other peoples. As for me, I say this is better than being right.

As for me, I say the truth of Jesus Christ is more than just the facts.

Six months ago I attended the PC(USA) transformation conference in Fort Worth. I have been thinking about what I learned there ever since. This week, I have been reading one of the books I got while I was there. It’s Kevin G. Ford’s “Transforming Church, Bringing out the Good to Get to the Great.”[2] One of the things it teaches is that each congregation has a code, a sort of a DNA that helps define who we are and even more strongly who we are not.

I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about our code here at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas. I say it like this, with our denomination and our location, because our code, while being similar to many Presbyterian and other Reformed Christian churches, is also different from many Presbyterian and other Reformed Christian churches. This is why events and programs which work so wonderfully and so well at some churches would be a horrible mistake at others.

Many thoughts have gone through my head about our code. I have heard and I myself have said that this congregation is a family. With apologies to The Olive Garden, I find it true; when you’re here you are family. I have also heard us called “The Church of the Bells.” When folks ask me what church I pastor and I say “First Presbyterian” they usually have no idea which church I’m talking about. When I say “The Church of the Bells” you can see their eyes light up in recognition. Everybody knows “The Church of the Bells” and where it’s located. We also say we are a downtown church, not one on the fringe of town.

I am sure there are many others and I hope you will share your insights with me. At the Session meeting tonight I hope the Elders will add to this conversation that is so far in my head.

These are all bits and pieces of our code. But the problem with code is that it’s just facts, what they are not is the truth. Like DNA, code is the building block but it’s not the building. The truth is found when we use the code to seek the answers to questions like “What does it mean to be a part of the heavenly family?” “What is so important about ‘The Church of the Bells’?” “What does it mean to be a downtown church?” “What does it mean to us that we testify that no one comes to the Father except through the Son,” especially in a world with a new religion on every corner.

Our code helps us frame who we are, in Peter’s words a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people. But the furniture is added only when we find what the code means as we trust in God and trust in Jesus so we may proclaim the mighty acts of God who calls us out of the darkness into his marvelous light. Knowing the code doesn’t matter until we do something with it to do God’s reconciling work.

Sergeant Joe Friday took just the facts. Each witness can testify only to what they saw. But it was Friday who took the facts and interpreted them to find the truth. He took “Just the facts” and made them into more. We have wonderful and glorious facts, but it isn’t until we seek the truth that they matter. This is our call, our vocation, and in this we grow in the faith of relationship with the Father and the Son.

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[1] “Just the facts” is actually said more often than the more popular “Just the facts, mam.”

[2] Ford, Kevin G., “Transforming Church, Bringing out the Good to Get to the Great.” Carol Stream, IL: Saltriver, 2007.

Harder Than It Has To Be

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday May 15, 2011, the 4th Sunday in Easter.

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Acts 2:42-47

Psalm 23

1Peter 2:19-25

John 10:1-10

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen

In our gospel reading today, we heard the first half of what is known as the “Good Shepherd” discourse. There is no more endearing image of Jesus from scripture than the Good Shepherd. Ask any biblical scholar, and I mean any biblical scholar.

One of the things that I do when preparing a sermon is look at scholarly books about scripture called commentaries. Sometimes I look at them extensively, sometimes hardly at all. Sometimes they provide insights that I share at length. Sometimes I find a word or phrase that sends me off on my own path into interpreting the scripture. Our reading from John this week has a piece of information that is interesting to scholars. I’ll let you decide for yourself if you find it interesting.

There are scholars who look at this passage and see two different figures of speech; the image of the shepherd and the image of the watchman at the door of the sheep pen. Of course these scholars can’t decide how to separate the figures. Renowned New Testament scholar Raymond Brown separates the shepherd imagery from the gate and watchman imagery twice.[1] Once within verses two through five and again in verses seven through ten. Other scholars simply separate the figures at either side of verse six.[2]

I’m not so taken with this splitting of proverbial hairs. This is just too much scholarly analysis and not enough Jesus in my opinion. In say separation of this figure of speech or these figures of speech makes interpretation more difficult than it has to be.

In the commentaries I read, one of the facts missing from the analysis is a description of the sheep pen. When this figure of speech was created nobody with any sense of sheep and shepherds needed to be told what a sheep pen looks like. In our largely urban world, the same is even true for everyone who has ever driven past a ranch or has been to a ranch supply store. We don’t need to be told what a sheep pen looks like either. The matter lies in knowing that the technologies of first and twenty-first century sheep pens are quite different.

When we think of a pen and a gate, we think of some kind of fencing with some sort of metal gate that’s hinged and hasped. It’s how my fence looks at home. It’s how I’ve seen dozens of sheep pens across Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Colorado. But I’ve seen something else; I have seen a replica of a first century sheep pen.

Marie and I saw it at a bible theme park in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. As we saw, the first century pens were not the product of barbed wire and steel. The pens were within earthen embankments. The earth formed a wall around the pen like a levee. The barrier separates the sheep from the outside world. The earthen wall was circular and stood several feet high with one gap where the sheep would enter and exit the pen.

There would also be bramble planted along the top of the abutment that was not only effective in keeping the sheep in the pen, it also meant that any predator or thief would have to navigate thorns and spines before reaching their prey. In its way, it was first century barbed wire. Between the piercing thorns and the rattling bramble, not even the wind could come into the pen without being noticed. A decent description of the walls, there is still a missing piece in this picture. I have yet to mention how the gap was closed. I haven’t mentioned what the New International Version calls the gate and the watchman.

Of course the first century sheep pen did not have the metal gate you get at Tractor Supply. In the first century, the shepherds themselves were the gates. Remember that the shepherds were the young boys, each night one of the young boys would stay in the mouth of the gap. He was gate and gate keeper. He was the shepherd and the watchman.

Of course this would be a dangerous position. The remaining shepherds would be with the sheep asleep inside the pen. Like any sentry duty, sitting the gate was left to the youngest of all the shepherd boys, the boy of lowest status. The least of the least was in the most precarious position.

So here we are, scholars say we have two images; the shepherd and the door, the gate and the watchman. As for me, I say they’re splitting hairs. Yes, the shepherds and the watchmen are two different figures of speech. But no, they aren’t really two different things; they are both young boys who are to put their lives on the line for the sheep and their family.

This is where I believe commentary writers make it harder than it has to be. Scholars have written volumes showing other scholars the differences between these images. What I say is that it’s fundamentally the same thing. It’s the same boy serving two different roles. A young boy who is a shepherd by day becomes the watchman at night. Biblical scholars pine on these differences over volumes without making one simple overreaching point.

Jesus says I am the shepherd.

The shepherd leads the sheep. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice. When the shepherd calls, he calls them by name. The sheep follow because they know the shepherd’s voice. There are only a few reasons for the shepherd to call, among them to lead the sheep to pasture and water. Notice the verbs; the sheep follow, the shepherd leads. The sheep don’t know the way; it is up to the shepherd to lead them to where they need to go.

Oh to be in the presence, in the fold of the great shepherd. Scripture is filled with glorious images of the shepherd. The 100^th Psalm[3] reminds us of this as we sing “Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” We are the sheep of his pasture. We are the people of the Lord God who calls us each by name.

Some scholars[4] say this gospel passage rings the bell tolled in Isaiah 40 when the prophet says, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”

In Numbers[5] as he is about to leave the children of Israel, Moses begs “that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.” Moses prays for a shepherd for the people. One who will watch them and protect them after he is taken by the great shepherd.

Others[6] say this passage harkens back to 1Samuel 16 where David is identified as the ideal Shepherd King. David, the man who knows God’s heart, foreshadows the King of kings.

Oh the many images of the shepherd scattered in the Word. Each of these figures give us a slightly different insight into the Lord God. They give us a different shade of who Jesus says he is in this passage from John’s gospel.

Jesus says I am the shepherd. Jesus says I am the gate. Jesus says I am the watchman. Jesus says I am.

I AM, the ancient name of God from the Old Testament is also found in the gospels. Jesus says I AM thirty six times in the gospels. Two-thirds of these sayings, twenty four I AM statements are found in this fourth Gospel. Jesus says I AM the true vine. He says I AM the bread of life. He says I AM the way. He says I AM he, which is just how Jesus says I AM who I AM. I am the I AM.

Perhaps the most encouraging of the “I AM” statements is when Jesus tells his disciples and all of creation I AM here. The joy of the presence of God who is here is the most glorious sign of all.

Jesus is who he is. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the way, the truth and the life. This is important. This is the truth. Yet there is one more truth that must be mentioned. Karl Barth said that a good sermon points to God. A good sermon reveals God to the congregation. I pray that I have done this so far. Yet there is one more truth that tends to go unmentioned. We are the sheep.

As the sheep we are powerless. We have no defense against predators. We have no defense against the raging floods that sweep the plains. We have no defense against the thieves that would steal us from our flock.

As the sheep, we have one thing, we have the good shepherd. We have the shepherd whose voice we recognize. We have the shepherd who cares for us. We have the shepherd of the 23^rd Psalm.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. This is the shepherd we celebrated as we rejoiced our Call to Worship this morning:

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.[7]

This is the shepherd who we follow.

St. John Chrysostom was the Archbishop of Constantinople in the late fourth and early fifth century. A stalwart of the early church Chrysostom was a great theologian. Nearly fifteen-hundred years ago, he said these words about the good shepherd: “For so long as we are sheep, we conquer: though ten thousand wolves prowl around, we overcome and prevail. But if we become wolves, we are worsted, for the help of our Shepherd departs from us.”[8]

Chrysostom reminds us that we are the sheep protected by the shepherd. When we choose to become the wolf our God our help in ages past leaves us, for we have left the fold.

We don’t have to rejoice in what scholars tell us, whether this is two figures of speech or one. We rejoice in what we know, God is God and we are not. The Lord is our shepherd and that makes us the sheep. The Lord is the good shepherd who leads us and protects us. The Lord is the gate who stands between us and harm’s way. The Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want. Everything else is just taking the truth and making it harder than it has to be.

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[1] New Interpreter’s Bible, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, page 666-667.

[2] “Texts for Preaching, A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV, Year A” Walter Brueggemann, Charles B. Cousar, Beverly R. Gaventa, James D. Newsome, Editors. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995, pages 288-290.

[3] Psalm 100:3

[4] Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 2, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, Editors. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, page 442.

[5] Numbers 27:17

[6] Ibid, page 443

[7] Kirk, James G. “When We Gather” Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, page 66.

[8] John Chrysostom, “Homilies of John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople on the Gospel According to St. Matthew.” http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/200133.htm, retrieved May 14, 2011. Thanks to the Rev. Dr. David L. Johnson of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary for the suggestion.

Elusive God

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on May 8, 2011, the 3rd Sunday in Easter. Happy Mother's Day.

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Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19

1Peter 1:17-23

Luke 24:13-35

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

Our prayer for illumination begins with the phrase “Elusive God.”[1] The prayer comes from a book of prayers written by the people who assembled the readings we use every Sunday in worship. So it’s theologically sound. Still, when I read this prayer for the first time the words stuck with me. Let me tell you why.

Our reading begins “Now earlier that same day.” According to Luke’s gospel, this “same day” is Easter Sunday. John’s version of this story, the one we read on Easter Sunday,[2] has Mary Magdalene staying at the tomb after Peter and the beloved disciple leave. Waiting, she meets a man who asks “Why are you crying?” Thinking him a gardener she asks if he moved the body. If he had and if he would just say where Jesus was, she would retrieve him.

Then the man, the resurrected Jesus calls her by name and then she recognizes him. She rejoices crying out “Rabbouni!”

The Lukan version of the tomb story which precedes our gospel reading is different. It has Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna and several other women at the tomb. They find the tomb empty until they were met by two men dressed in dazzling white. These men ask “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” The women were understandably terrified, but they fell in worship, not fright.

Afterwards, the women went to the place where the disciples were staying and told them what they had seen at the tomb. The men chose not to go. Only Peter went to the tomb; and after seeing the scattered cloths and the tomb empty. Then he went home evidently without sharing his discovery. This is “that same day” and where we enter the gospel.

Our reading begins as the travelers meet the elusive God; our companion on the way who walks behind, bedside and beyond us catching us unawares. Emmanuel, the Lord God who walks with us is still elusive. Perfectly disguised, Jesus walks along side these disciples as he joins them on the road to Emmaus. The two disciples don’t recognize him at all.

Now, let’s give these two a little credit. First, I believe the reason they did not recognize Jesus is that he did not want to be recognized. Jesus appeared to these two travelers in his post-Resurrection form. Jesus appeared to Mary in his post-Resurrection form and according to John’s gospel she didn’t recognize him either. It seems that in his resurrected form nobody could recognize Jesus; that is until he revealed himself.

Mary only recognized Jesus when he called her by name. The two disciples didn’t recognize him until he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. The disciples don’t recognize Jesus until he wants them to recognize them. So I’ll give the disciples a little credit, they weren’t blind or stupid. I believe they didn’t recognize Jesus because he wasn’t ready to be recognized. Jesus revealed himself when the time was right, not a moment sooner.

Second, let’s face it; the disciples have had a tough week. With the events of Palm Sunday through the Passion and the Crucifixion until the Easter Resurrection ending finally at our reading, the people of Christ have had quite a week. Just how tough a week is recapped in today’s gospel reading by the pilgrims on the Emmaus road. Wonderfully Jesus himself initiates this conversation with his disciples.

The disciples were walking along the seven mile road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. In the day, seven miles would not have been much of a journey, not even three hours at a strolling pace. The travelers were talking among themselves. They were discussing everything that had happened. It’s not unlike how we talked with one another remembering the storms a couple of weeks ago, checking in with each other and making sure we are all fine.

Imagine coming to church last weekend and talking about the storms with someone, anyone. Now imagine someone else who had been in the midst of the storms, seen the damage, and heard the tempest walking up to you asking “What are you discussing?” That shocked feeling you have is just a bit of how these two disciples felt. This version of “What’s up, Doc” stunned the pilgrims.

Cleopas wants to know what rock this man had been under for the past week. “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened in these days?” Remember, the city swelled with religious pilgrims, but c’mon, even the pilgrims would have known the stories about what happened this week. Unless that is this man’s pilgrimage led him directly under a rock.

“What things?” the elusive God asks. “About Jesus of Nazareth!” Cleopas cries. What else is there to talk about? Taking the lead, Cleopas describes the Lord as “a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” Then together they recapped the events of the week to the one who initiated them.

They told Jesus of the chief priests and rulers who handed him over to the Romans to be crucified. They told him that they had hoped Jesus would be the one, the Christ, who would redeem Israel from the hands of oppression. They had hoped he would be the one who would lead the nation to freedom. Alas, Jesus was dead the Roman puppets were still in control. They mourned the anointed one was not the anointed one after all.

This is when Jesus began interpreting the events of the Passion and Easter for them with the words of the prophets. He explained what the scriptures had said about the Messiah, about himself. He explained to them that what happened had to happen. He showed them they were foolish believing that history had been written. He explained to them that the glory had just begun. The Christ had to suffer before he could enter his glory.

The words Jesus spoke played their heartstrings. His words burned their way into their hearts. Jesus interpreting the works of the last week in the words of the prophets made their way into the very souls of the pilgrims. They didn’t know what it meant, not yet. They didn’t even really realize that it was happening, not yet.

It’s Jesus saying “Fear not boys. You might have thought that these things were bound to happen, poking Rome with a sharp stick and all; but truly I tell you, these things had to happen.”

Together they made their way to the outskirts of Emmaus. Cleopas and his companion were heading into town and it looked like Jesus was going to take the loop and continue on his way. Traveling alone was never a good idea on these roads and it must have been time for a meal, so they asked Jesus to stay for a bite.

Jesus stays. He joins them at table and taking bread, he gave thanks he broke it and began to give it to them. This is when “not yet” becomes “now.” They recognized Jesus when he presented himself to them.

In a few minutes, we will hear the words that Jesus says again, “Take, eat, this is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” and “This is the Bread of Heaven, the Body of Christ broken for you.” This is the moment, in this meal Jesus reveals himself to them. This is the moment, in this meal, in the Lord’s Supper, when Jesus reveals himself to us.

When we speak of the confessions of the Church, we often think of the Apostles’ Creed. It’s no wonder. Children are taught the creed before they become members of the church. We say this creed every Sunday when I invite us to state what we believe. But for Presbyterians, it is not the only creed that we believe.

All totaled, there are eleven creeds which we proclaim as a denomination. The oldest is “The Nicene Creed,” first drafted in 325 and set in its final form in 381. The most recent is “A Brief Statement of Faith” which was approved in 1983 at the reunion of the former Southern and Northern branches of the Presbyterian Church. The confessions have much to say about the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

The Second Helvetic Confession, one of two Presbyterian confessions written by Swiss theologians, says this of the Supper:

For the author of the Supper of the Lord is not an angel or any man, but the Son of God himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, who first consecrated it to his Church. And the same consecration or blessing still remains along all those who celebrate no other but that very Supper which the Lord instituted, and at which they repeat the words of the Lord's Supper, and in all things look to the one Christ by a true faith, from whose hands they receive, as it were, what they receive through the ministry of the ministers of the Church.[3]

The author of the Supper, the originator of the Supper is the Lord Jesus Christ. He brought the supper to the church first as his Last Supper and again here breaking bread with the disciples from the road to Emmaus. It is by the one true faith, faith in Christ alone, that this meal continues to be consecrated by the Lord to the church even 2,000 years later.

One of the more recent additions to the Presbyterian Confessions is simply known as the Confession of 1967. It says:

The Lord's Supper is a celebration of the reconciliation of men with God and with one another, in which they joyfully eat and drink together at the table of their Savior. Jesus Christ gave his church this remembrance of his dying for sinful men so that by participation in it they have communion with him and with all who shall be gathered to him. Partaking in him as they eat the bread and drink the wine in accordance with Christ's appointment, they receive from the risen and living Lord the benefits of his death and resurrection. They rejoice in the foretaste of the kingdom which he will bring to consummation at his promised coming, and go out from the Lord's Table with courage and hope for the service to which he has called them.[4]

As we share this meal, we share God’s work; God’s work which reconciles us one to another. In this meal we eat and drink together with our Savior, we testify that only by this meal can we be gathered to him. We receive the benefits his death and resurrection, the benefits of our faith as we receive the plate and the cup. The supper gives us courage and hope for the work Christ has called us to do.

Our Prayer for Illumination ended as we pray that the elusive God break through the disillusionment and despair that clouds our vision so that with wide-eyed wonder we may find our way and journey on as messengers of God’s good news. In this prayer, we pray that sharing the meal of our faith we may do like the disciples from the road to Emmaus did. We pray that we may return to our friends and share what has been revealed. We are to share the good news of the Resurrected Christ today.

Jesus was elusive with his appearance; he reveals himself to the people he wants to recognize him when he wants them to recognize him. Jesus is also elusive with more than with his appearance; his work can be elusive too. The pilgrims were hoping for a military and political messiah, what they received was far greater. Freedom from Rome was small potatoes compared to the freedom Christ brings to all who believe and have faith in the resurrection.

They didn’t recognize Jesus because he wasn’t ready to be recognized. When the time was right, Jesus revealed himself, not a moment sooner. Jesus reveals himself to the men on the road to Emmaus in the breaking of bread. Jesus reveals himself to us in the breaking of bread too. In this meal Christ is revealed to us. In this meal may our faith be fed to do the work he calls us to do. In this meal let us taste and see the Lord is good.

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[1] Scriptural Prayer, Year A. “Revised Common Lectionary Prayers.” Minneapolis, MN: Agusburg Fortress Publishers, page 116.

[2] John 20:1-18

[3] “The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Part I, Book of Confessions.” Second Helvetic Confession; Chapter XXI, Of the Holy Supper of the Lord; Paragraph 2, The Author and Consecrator of the Supper. Louisville, KY, Geneva Press, 1966.

[4] Ibid, The Confession of 1967; Part II, Ministry of Reconciliation; Section 4, The Lord’s Supper. 

The Other Guys

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday May 1, 2011, the 2nd Sunday in Easter.

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Acts 2:14a, 22-32

Psalm 16

1Peter 1:3-9

John 20:19-31

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen

A movie came out last year called “The Other Guys” starring Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg as two detectives who aren’t the cops Hollywood makes movies about. In this Police Department, the Hollywood cops are Christopher Danson and P.K Highsmith. These are the guys who get the job done in the most overdramatic chaotic way possible. They make the big arrests. They get the girl. And they smash a classic car into a double-decker tour bus, a Cadillac Escalade and Trump Tower. They are the rock stars in the police department.

Of course, not everybody is a rock star. Every rock star needs a fleet of roadies to support the tour. The stars do their thing a couple of hours every night, but it’s the other guys who take care of business every hour of the day and night. Along with the Danson and Highsmith, the squad room is filled with veteran cops, jokers, chop busters, and the other guys. Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg are the other guys.

Among the disciples there are rock stars. The apostolic rock stars are (say it with me) Peter, James, and John. Among the disciples these men are “the rock upon which my church will be built” and “the sons of thunder.” These are the three who see the transfiguration. These are the three who accompany Jesus to the garden of Gethsemane. These guys are front and center.

As for the other nine disciples, the only one who comes close in the number of mentions is Judas, and frankly, that’s not good. We can all agree that he got his ink for all the wrong reasons. As for the rest, they hardly get mentioned at all. In the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, most of the disciples are only mentioned in the list of disciple’s names. In John’s gospel this changes. Yes, like in the synoptic gospels Peter, James and John have significant roles, but in John’s the other guys also have special roles.

It’s in John’s gospel where Philip and Nathanael have the conversation about anything good coming from Nazareth.[1] It’s Philip who asks Jesus how they are going to feed the 5,000.[2] It’s Philip and Andrew who bring the message that the Greeks want to see Jesus.[3]

When Jesus decides he’s going back to Judea after Lazarus’ death it’s Thomas who says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”[4] When Jesus says “You know the way to the place where I am going.” it’s Thomas who says “Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”[5] And today, it’s Thomas whose words drive the action.

We hear in the beginning of this passage that almost all of the remaining disciples see Jesus. Jesus says to them “Peace be with you.” What a joy to hear these words. There’s a reason I begin worship saying “May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” It’s because grace and peace are wonderful, glorious gifts. The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ is a delight. It’s a reassurance. The Hebrews call it shalom. These gifts are from the best God has to give us.

Then, as is normal in scripture, after being given a gift; the disciples receive their call, their vocation. Jesus charges them with these words, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” But he doesn’t leave them hanging with his peace and a job, no. Jesus gives them the tool they need to do the job he has given them. Jesus empowers them breathing on them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

But not Thomas, Thomas wasn’t there.

So when Thomas gets back to where they were staying he receives the wonderful news, “We have seen the Lord!”  I imagine the disciples thought this revelation would be met with the same excitement that filled them. Think again.

Thomas answers back, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

I ask, which of us wouldn’t have reacted the same way in this situation? We can laugh at Thomas because we know the rest of the story, but first, let’s put ourselves in his place. How would we have responded?

Within the biblical timeline, our reading begins earlier in the day when Peter and the beloved disciple see the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene returns later with the word of the Lord saying that he will return from the Father. Later that day the Lord appears to everyone. Was Thomas in the room at anytime during the day? He wasn’t there when Jesus appeared. As for any other time during the day scripture doesn’t say, so we don’t know.

But imagine yourself in this situation. Imagine you just got back from Wal-Mart. You were the one who went to get pita bread and wine for everyone and by the time you got to the house, woo-hoo! The Lord had arrived sharing his peace, and empowering them with the Holy Spirit. I don’t think snubbed would be a bad word for how Thomas felt.

Thomas isn’t asking for anything the rest of the disciples hadn’t already received. Peter, James, and John were the rock stars, but suddenly everybody sees Jesus and everybody’s a rock star, everybody except Thomas. Thomas is the last remaining “other guy” in the room so I can’t blame him for being miffed.

Is this Thomas doubting the resurrection?  Scripture thinks so. Is this Thomas being jealous because everyone else got what he didn’t? I think this is probably true too. Jealousy would be a very human reaction.

We know the rest of the story, Jesus hears Thomas’ cry. When he returns the next week, with Thomas present, he says “Peace be with you.” Then he gives Thomas what he needs. He says “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” Then Jesus rebukes him saying “Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas cries out, “My Lord and my God.”

After the resurrection and before the ascension there were many who would see Jesus, but he knew that many would not see him and would believe. Jesus declares them, Jesus declares us, more blessed than this first generation of believers. We are more blessed because we believe without Thomas’ assurance.

John’s gospel and this passage in particular show us several things. The first is that there are rock stars. There is Peter, James, and John. There is Billy Graham and a whole flock of men and women who have received Elisha’s double blessing of God’s Spirit. And there are even more like us, the other guys. We’re the folks who set up before and follow up after the Billy Graham Crusade leaves town.

We all called by the Lord to do God’s work in the world, and there is no such thing as small ministry. There’s an old nursery rhyme that goes like this:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe the horse was lost.

For want of a horse the rider was lost.

For want of a rider the battle was lost.

For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.[6]

It just goes to show, there’s no piece so small that it’s unimportant.

To perform God’s work, to engage in ministry, everybody receives the same spirit. We all receive the same Spirit of God. We are all ordained to different types of ministry, but we are all chosen and we are all empowered to ministry, the Lord’s work, by the Spirit of God.  Jesus indwells us all. Even us, the other guys have the spirit, and the power and the vocation to do God’s work. Jesus gives us what we need to do his work. Nothing is so unimportant that it doesn’t require the power of the Holy Spirit.

The people who make the nails and horseshoes are important. The people who shoe the horses are important. The people who do the paperwork, cut the checks, and sort the mail are vital to ministry. I thank God Marie makes sure I get out of the house with my head firmly attached! I thank God for the work Georgia and Al and Brionna do in worship.

Thanks be to God for the people who mow the lawn and set up the Easter Egg hunt and clean up after it’s done. Thanks be to God for those who arrange the elements for worship and the sacraments. Thank God for the Elders who celebrate the Lord’s Supper. I even thank God for the computer that hosts the internet sites where this sermon hits cyberspace.

There is nothing that we do, inside or outside the church that is not ordained by God. There is nothing that we can do on our own that is worth doing without the Holy Spirit.

There’s an old story about the theme to the TV show “Gilligan’s Island.” During the first season, the black and white season, the theme song ended, “…and the rest are here on Gilligan’s Isle.” After the first season, knowing the show was a hit and knowing the network would be redoing the titles when the show began broadcasting in color, Bob Denver, the actor who played Gilligan, flexed his muscle.

He threatened the network brass that unless the characters played by Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells were mentioned by name in the credits he would move his name to the end of the credits, and he had the authority to make this demand too. CBS wasn’t willing to find out if their star was playing a game of “chicken” or not, so they agreed to his terms. For the last two seasons, the show’s credits ended, “…the Professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan’s isle.”[7]

In his own way, Bob Denver told the network brass that there is no such thing as “…and the rest.” Everyone in the cast was valuable and valued. This is what John’s gospel tells us. We are all useful. We are all empowered by the same spirit. We are all endowed and called by God. Jesus gives us holy work to do and the power we need to do it. Not just Peter, James, and John; but Philip, Nathanael, and even Doubting Thomas. We are all useful to the work of God.

Christianity is not just a faith for the rock stars; it’s also the faith of the veteran cops, the jokers, the chop busters, and the other guys too.

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[1] John 1:46

[2] John 6:1-15

[3] John 12:20-26

[4] John 11:16

[5] John 14:5

[6] http://www.rhymes.org.uk/for_want_of_a_nail.htm, retrieved April 30, 2011.

[7] All Gilligan’s Island notes can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilligan%27s_Island, retrieved April 30, 2011.