The Wrong Question

It was early Sunday morning,

I imagine it was a morning much like today --- foggy and the air heavy

the Sabbath was over

          Mary Magdalene decided to go to the tomb to honor the dead body of Jesus

But as she arrived --- to her surprise she noticed that the stone covering the tomb that Jesus body had been placed in had been moved.

She ran at once to Simon Peter and breathlessly called out, “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”

Mary, Peter and another disciple ran back to the tomb. 

          The boys went inside but didn't find Jesus

Mary stood outside the tomb weeping.

As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?”

“They took my Master,” she said, “and I don’t know where they put him.”

She then turned away and saw someone standing there.

But she didn’t recognize the person.

The man spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”

Mary, in her confusion and grief thought that he was the gardener, said, “Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”

The stranger said one word: “Mary.”

Turning in the midst of her tears, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”

Jesus then said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: “I saw the Master!” And she told them everything he said to her.

I love that story --- it is my favorite of all the resurrection morning stories.

I have tried over and over again throughout the years to try and explain just what happened that Easter morning.

          Trying to bring the disparate versions into some sense of harmony

Earlier this week, as I was preparing a presentation for those who are traveling to Israel next January.  I was looking at some of my pictures that I have taken over the years I was struck by one in particular.

It is a photo taken outside one of my favorite churches in Jerusalem --- it is a church built by donations given by 12 nations following the end of World War One in the hope and prayer that this was the dawn of a new age.  --- It is known as the “Church of All Nations.

The church is adjacent to the Garden of Gethsemane and the alter is build around a rock where Jesus is believed to have prayed before being arrested.

          It is truly a remarkable place

But what caught my attention in this picture was a very large sign at the entrance to the church --- it was a clear warning to every visitor. It said:

          NO EXPLANATIONS INSIDE THE CHURCH.

Obviously this was there to discourage overzealous guides who wanted to lecture inside the church and disrupt the prayerful setting.  But on this particular day, it was speaking to me.

Easter is one of the most challenging Sunday's to preach. 

What can one say that hasn't already been said?

And yet, confronted by a room full of people who spend most of their time in secular ways of thinking, where the dead stay dead and God—if there is one—does not intervene in the natural order --- I have often found myself trying to explain what happened on that first Easter in a way that might make sense to the modern mind.

There is nothing wrong with addressing people’s doubts, or wondering what facts might lie behind what Rowan Williams calls the “painfully untidy stories” of the Easter narratives.

          But I have concluded --- that is work for another day.

Easter Sunday is for proclamation, not explanation.

Easter is a time to meet the One who changes everything.

Mary, as she came to the tomb that first Easter morning didn't ask --- "what happened?"

Instead, we find Mary weeping

          She is distraught over the death of her beloved friend Jesus

                   She --- like the rest of his followers expected great things

I am not sure they fully understood what those great things would be

But they surely did not expect him to die at the hands of the Romans on a cross

And while she was looking for his broken and very dead body

          Mary encounters someone whom she assumes is the gardener

Now I have never seen a resurrected body

But if my brother Stewart was to all of a sudden show up at my door --- and remember he died 34 years ago --- I would be willing to bet that I would recognize him

But Mary --- who the Gospel writers tell us was at the crucifixion just three days earlier --- Mary does not recognize this person who is standing in front of her and actually having a conversation with

I have a hard time understanding that

I have often said --- that if you are I were there on that first Easter morning with our I-Phones ready --- I don't believe that we would have been able to capture or record the event

          I do not believe it was a Kodak moment

But what was it then???

          I don't know

                   And I really don't think it matters

                             That is the wrong question --- but the one we often want to answer

What I do know is:

Mary --- standing outside the tomb weeping does not know who she is talking with --- UNTIL --- do you remember what changed everything?

                   Until he calls her by her name

Something about the way that Jesus called her name --- Mary --- was transformative

At that MOMENT the resurrection became real for Mary

And not only did Mary recognize Jesus in that moment

          Jesus recognized something in her

                   He saw in her what she was created to be

And this moment becomes so transformative --- so real --- that Mary breaks all the rules of first century society

Do you remember what happens?

Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’”

Do you realize what just happened?

In a world and society in which women were third rate citizens

          A world in which the author of 1st Timothy is going to write in a few short years

I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.

Did you hear that?

          GO, Jesus said, AND TELL THEM

The first preacher of the Gospel --- selected by Jesus himself to tell the news of his resurrection was not Peter, or John --- the first preacher of the Gospel was Mary!  A WOMAN!

Is that crazy or what!

Jesus ordains Mary --- he commissions her to go tell the Good News

          Not because she recognized Jesus

          But because Jesus recognized her

The question is NOT what happened on that first Easter --- but where is Jesus now!

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Where is Jesus?

The rest of the Gospel tries to explain that to us.

Jesus --- the Christ --- is here RIGHT NOW

          He sees YOU!

                   He is inviting you

                             To see Jesus --- the Christ --- in everything

There is a powerful scene in all three of the synoptic gospels during the crucifixion that we often let slide by unnoticed

At the moment that Jesus dies --- all three Gospel writers want to make sure we know that the world is forever changed.

And they do that by telling us that the earth began to shake and rocks were split into pieces --- but they throw in this seemingly unimportant statement

          "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom."

What does that have to do with anything?

Who cares if the curtain of the temple is suddenly torn in two?

It would be important if you were a first century Jew who worshipped at the temple.

The temple was made up a series of more and more restrictive spaces.

          The further in --- access becomes more and more limited

And at the center of the temple was the most restrictive space of all: The Holy of Holies.

          Only the High Priest was allowed to enter the threshold of God

For the Temple worshipping Jew ---The Holy of Holies was THE dwelling place of God

          It was where God lived

And what separated the Holy of Holies from the next space in the temple was --- yep you guessed it --- a curtain

The Gospel writers are wanting us to know that God has been released into the world

          No longer is God dwelling in that one spot

But through the death and resurrection of Jesus

          --- God is now EVERY WHERE

On this Easter morning --- the question should not be: What Happened?

But rather: How is the Risen Lord transforming our lives as he calls us by name and is inviting us into Kingdom life.

Jesus is calling YOU by your name

Hear his voice and respond to the Kingdom call.

According to John: Do This

John 13:34-35

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

I am preaching from the same section of John that Matt did last week.  A section known as Jesus' final discourse. 

Jesus is giving his friends, their final instructions before his arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection take place.

This is a busy part of John's Gospel.

Matthew, Mark and Luke condensed the events before Jesus’ arrest into just a few verses, while John takes almost five chapters to tell us about this final evening.

The evening begins very differently in John --- it starts not with the 12 gathered around the table that we call the last supper on a Thursday night --- but rather in John, this final night takes place on Wednesday (so that Jesus can die at the same moment as the Passover lambs on Thursday). 

It also begins with Jesus doing something that most of us find uncomfortable --- he washes the disciples' feet.

Have you ever been to a foot washing service and allowed someone to wash your feet?

Most people find the idea of allowing someone to wash their feet intimidating.

                   Even Peter in the story doesn't want Jesus to wash his feet

Foot washing is:

          Very intimate

          It requires us to be vulnerable

          It requires us to give up control

                   All things that we like hate to do

I once asked my worship leaders about doing a foot washing service for Maundy Thursday and instead one of them came back with a hand washing service

          I am sorry --- it is not the same!

But that is the backdrop to these chapters in John's gospel.

Jesus is setting the stage for his final instructions

Following the foot washing, there is a brief, if spotty story of the last supper, in which Jesus announces that one of the disciples is about to betray him

Judas departs the scene --- to go and betray Jesus --- and John wants to make sure we know that it is night --- darkness has settled on Judas

The story continues:

John 13:31-33    (CEB)

When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Human One has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One in himself and will glorify him immediately. Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’

This glorification will be realized in Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection.

Through these events God will be glorified in the Christ.

And in this moment, Jesus wants to prepare his disciples for the reality of what is about to take place and to command them to love one another.

I have shared with you many times the other "love" passages that are found in the New Testament.  Many of those echo Leviticus 19:18 .

Matthew 22:37-39     (CEB)

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.

But here in John, Jesus gives us a new commandment --- and yet it really isn't new. 

          It is present throughout the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition

          It is present in the emerging Greco-Roman world

          It is a theme of virtually every religion

John 13:34-35

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

But what does it mean to love?

In our biblical text there are four words for love.

          Eros is the word for sensual or romantic love.

          Philia means brotherly love or friendship.

          Storge describes the love between family members.

Which of those do you think was being used in these passages?

None of them!

John uses the word agape

Agape is the term that defines God's immeasurable, incomparable love for humankind.

God gives this love without condition, unreservedly to those who are undeserving and inferior

The best definition that I have found for agape is this: "Agape is a sacrificial love that voluntarily suffers inconvenience, discomfort, and even death for the benefit of another without expecting anything in return."

Listen to that again: "Agape is a sacrificial love that voluntarily suffers inconvenience, discomfort, and even death for the benefit of another without expecting anything in return."

I am not sure I really like that kind of love.

          It seems impossible

Loving people who agree with me, or whom I like --- is pretty easy.

It is trying to agape those others -- that is where this Christianity stuff becomes pretty difficult.

There is a tradition that says that John, in his old age, would remind those around him to love one another. When questioned why he told them this so very often, his reply would be, “Because it is what our Lord commanded. If it is all you do, then it is enough.”

For Jesus, love did not mean a sweet sentimental feeling.

          It meant action.

          It meant actively loving -- putting one’s love into real world activities.

Last week I was in Albuquerque, New Mexico at a conference lead by Father Richard Rohr.  I know that you are familiar with the name because any Sunday that Matt is preaching you are certain to hear him quote Father Rohr in some fashion.

It was a very different conference than any I have ever been before.

          Generally I go to these continuing education events for a couple of reasons.

1.    Because I am required to do continuing education each year

2.    Hoping that I can learn something that will be useful for the church

But this was different --- I quickly realized that this was not going to put things into my "church" toolbox --- but that this had the potential to add growth and significance to my personal toolbox.

                   

The focus was on how we experience the Christ in our lives.  And along with teaching time --- a majority of our time was in worship and practice.

During one of the worship services early on, Rev. Jacqui Lewis from Middle Collegiate Church in New York City challenged us to identify the justice issues that we struggle with and are passionate about. 

As we did that the question that she asked was: "what are you willing to die for?"

I have been asked that question numerous times throughout my 35 years in ministry --- but for some reason --- in this setting --- in the midst of all that is going on in our denomination and culture --- it seemed different.

And as I wrestled during our "sit" --- fifteen minutes or so of silent contemplation --- the word agape kept coming to me.

"Agape is a sacrificial love that voluntarily suffers inconvenience, discomfort, and even death for the benefit of another without expecting anything in return."

Do I do anything centered in agape love or am I always expecting something in return?

          Am I willing to live a truly sacrificial life?

Does my love --- or the love I ascribe to God come with strings attached?

John 15:12-14    (CEB)

This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

I have so much work to do in my life.

But the good news is --- while Jesus calls on us to agape one another --- God promises to continue to agape each of us. 

And not only that --- through the Holy Spirit we will know God's abiding presence

None of us have loved like Jesus call us to love --- yet we are invited, despite ourselves to come to God's table.  To be linked to God's family.

When we gather at the table, what Jesus is really saying to us when he says "Do this" is not simply come up for the Eucharist --- but to come in unconditional love and invited others unconditionally to come as well.

Let me close with these words from Psychology Today (6/25/16) in an article called: "These Are the 7 Types of Love"

Agape is universal love, such as the love for strangers, nature, or God. Unlike storge, it does not depend on . . . familiarity. Also called charity by Christian thinkers, agape can be said to encompass the modern concept of altruism, defined as unselfish concern for the welfare of others. Recent studies link altruism with a number of benefits. In the short term, altruism leaves us with a euphoric feeling—the so-called ‘helper’s high’. In the longer term, it is associated with better mental and physical health, as well as longevity. . . . More generally, altruism, or agape, helps to build and maintain the psychological, social, and, indeed, environmental fabric that shields, sustains, and enriches us. Given the increasing anger and division in our society, and the state of our planet, we could all do with quite a bit more agape.

We have been blessed with God’s agape love

Are we willing to extend that love to others?

"Agape is a sacrificial love that voluntarily suffers inconvenience, discomfort, and even death for the benefit of another without expecting anything in return."

Do this! --- Jesus says

According To John: I Am

John 8:56-58  --- The Message

Jesus said, “If I turned the spotlight on myself, it wouldn’t amount to anything. But my Father, the same One you say is your Father, put me here at this time and place of splendor. You haven’t recognized him in this. But I have. If I, in false modesty, said I didn’t know what was going on, I would be as much of a liar as you are. But I do know, and I am doing what he says. Abraham—your ‘father’—with jubilant faith looked down the corridors of history and saw my day coming. He saw it and cheered.”

The Jews said, “You’re not even fifty years old—and Abraham saw you?”

“Believe me,” said Jesus, “I am who I am long before Abraham was anything.”

Moses was tending the sheep of his father in law Jethro in the Sinai desert at least 1,200 years before Jesus. 

          Do you remember the story?

While he was doing this he came upon a bush (Exodus 3:2-5 The Message)

The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn’t burn up.

Moses said, “What’s going on here? I can’t believe this! Amazing! Why doesn’t the bush burn up?”

God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

He said, “Yes? I’m right here!”

God said, “Don’t come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You’re standing on holy ground.”

God said to Moses that he was to return to Egypt (which he had fled from for he had murdered an Egyptian) and lead the Israelite people to the Promised Land.

Moses, like most of us, when we are called to stand up for God --- was --- well to put it mildly he was a little hesitant.

He tries to beg off.

                    But God is having no part of it.

In one last attempt to get out of it Moses says:

Exodus 3:13-15 --- The Message

 “Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, ‘The God of your fathers sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What do I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, ‘I-AM sent me to you.’”

God continued with Moses: “This is what you’re to say to the Israelites: ‘God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.’ This has always been my name, and this is how I always will be known.

God identifies God's self with one of the most fascinating and perplexing answers ever given.

Tell them, God says --- Tell them --- "I Am" sent you

What kind of a name is that?

This Hebrew word is four consonants long (ancient Hebrew did not have vowels)

Y H W H

And using the consonants Y H W H and the vowels in Elohim (another name for God) we get the word Yahweh and JEHOVAH (J is a Y in German)

Whenever you see LORD in small caps in your bible it is because the writers were using the word YHWH

But what does it mean?

The name is from the Hebrew verb Hawah — to be. In a world where there were thought to be dozens of deities — gods of the moon, storms, death, the sea, the sun —

God says to Moses, “I am being or existence itself. Everything that exists derives its existence from me, is contingent upon me, exists because of me. I am the Source and Essence of life, being, existence itself!” (Hamilton)

My systematic theology professor was a student of Paul Tillich, and his understanding of theology has greatly shaped my own.

Paul Tillich described God as "the ground of all being."

In other words, God IS. 

Everything exists because of God and is infused with God

Everything!

The conference that I am attending this week is called The Universal Christ: Another Name for Every Thing

Our passage this morning, Jesus is in a conflict with the religious leaders (as he often is in the fourth Gospel) and they are arguing over what it means to be a descendant of Abraham.

And Jesus says to them     (John 8:58-59)

“Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

In John's Gospel there are seven "I Am" statements in which Jesus uses a predicate to complete the sentence.

In studying these it is obvious that John's goal is to help us understand how faith in Jesus affects our lives.

My hunch is most of us are pretty familiar with these.

1.    I Am the bread of life. (John 6:35)

2.    I Am the light of the world. (John 8:12)

3.    I Am the gate of the sheep. (John 10:7)

4.    I Am the good shepherd. (John 10:11)

5.    I Am the resurrection and the life. (John 11:25)

6.    I Am the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6)

7.    I Am the true vine. (John 15:1)

The seven I Am statements form the distinctive core of Jesus’ language of self-revelation in the fourth Gospel.

Jesus used common symbols of his age to help let the people know that not only their religious needs, but also their human longings are met in him.

The I Am statements tell us a number of things about Jesus

·         Jesus is more than meets the eye

No one title or tradition can contain the totality of Jesus’ identity

                             Thus the use of metaphor to fill us with lots of images of Jesus

·         Jesus is available and welcoming to all

o   Bread

o   Light

o   Gate

·         The religious authorities (nor do we) like the welcome that Jesus wants to give away.  The authorities want strict rules and guidelines and Jesus constantly knocks them down

So they (and we) plot ways to get rid of Jesus and his followers who continued to proclaim this agape love

GOD IS --- I AM --- there is no asterisk by it

          God is all --- and is responsible for all of creation

God created Charlotte who receives baptism this morning

God created you and me as we struggle to be open and accepting of God’s grace

Jesus is light and life that is bestowed on everyone

And everyone --- whether we agree with Jesus or each other --- is invited to his table

          It is big enough for all

What the "I Am" statements teach us more than anything is that all people need for life is available in Jesus