Sermons and thoughts on faith on Scripture from my time at Old Presbyterian Meeting House and Falls Church Presbyterian Church, plus sermons and postings from "Pastor James," my blog while pastor at Boulevard Presbyterian in Columbus, OH.
In today's reading from Exodus, the Israelites head out from the Red Sea after their miraculous escape through the waters. But soon they are thirsty and, finding no drinkable water, they "complained against Moses." Moses cries out to God who gives them water. But soon they are hungry, and even though God has worked one miracle after another, they complain again. "If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
It's easy to belittle the Israelites' lack of faith. And I think some of us find their behavior even harder to understand because God is so obviously there for them. Look at all God has done for them. How can they fail to trust in God's provision?
I sometimes find myself wishing that God was more obviously present, like happened in biblical times. But I wonder if the biblical folks experienced it that way. Were they so different from me? Or were they perhaps exactly like me; confident when they sensed that God was there, but quickly imagining God was no longer with them the moment difficulty arose.
I've had my moments when God's presence was real, powerful, and life altering. I felt God calling me to leave a career and attend seminary. I've felt God calling me to refocus my work as a pastor. But then there are those times when I can't seem to find God. And I often find myself doubting those previous experiences of God. Were those signs really God, or was it all just coincidence? And I start to complain. I don't necessarily complain to God, but then neither do the Israelites. They complain to Moses and Aaron. Perhaps God didn't seem real enough at that moment even to merit a complaint. I know how they felt.
I know a lot of people who think that faith is believing what it says in the Bible, believing that God created the world, that Jesus died and rose. But I think that believing such things is child's play compared to the real work of faith. Faith is about trusting that God is at work in my life, that God is somehow moving events toward God's future and calling me to be a part of it, even when I can't seem to find God around me anywhere. In fact, I'm not sure there is faith, at least not in the sense the Apostle Paul speaks of it, without occasionally experiencing what feels like the absence of God.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.
So goes a portion of Psalm 98. Sometimes I use similar words to open worship. But it is very easy for worship to be something other than an offering to God. For me worship is filled with logistics, worries about all the pieces coming together, not to mention delivering a sermon. For choir members it may be about doing the music they've rehearsed. People in the seats or pews may be able to worry less about such things and take it all in. But it is easy for them to become spectators and worship become something that was either good or bad depending on how they liked it.
How do we make worship something we give to God? I think this is a critical issue for many mainline congregations such as the one I serve. And I think answering this question starts with an enhanced sense that God is in our sanctuaries and worship spaces. We say that when the faithful gather together, Jesus is present with us. But it is easy to act otherwise, to act as if we are simply gathering to do a little singing and to hear someone talk about God.
How present is God in your worship? And how can we do a better job of helping others to encounter that presence.
Today's gospel reading takes place shortly before Jesus' arrest, and it states with clarity that to see Jesus is to see the Father. This is a fundamental claim of John's gospel. It is there in the opening verses about the Word made flesh. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
In the very early years of the Church, Christians argued over the nature of Jesus and his divinity. But those issues were settled long ago. Most Christians don't give Jesus' divinity a second thought. We assume it. At least we do until it comes to our actions.
With scarcely a thought we say, "Jesus is God in the flesh." But when it comes to doing what Jesus says, that is another matter. In today's reading Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." But the notion of "turning the other cheek" is not all that appealing to me. And I have enough trouble loving my family. I'm not sure I can love all believers, precisely what Jesus commands we he says, "Love one another." And loving my enemies just seems like a bad idea.
Sometimes we Protestants have so focused on faith that we act like it doesn't matter what we do, only what we believe. But the Bible clearly says that faith without works is dead. And Jesus says that if we love him, we will obey him. Obedience doesn't always sit well with our cultural notions of self-fulfillment and happiness. We are loathe to give anyone that sort of control over our lives. We want freedom. Freedom from God?
There is no audio today, but the video will be posted tomorrow. Sermon text is below.
Acts 5:27-32; John 20:19-23
Impressive Congregations
James SledgeApril 11, 2010
Most of you know that I am not originally from central Ohio, that I moved here from my home state of North Carolina.Once I arrived, it wasn’t long before I learned of Columbus’ long running inferiority complex.After years of living in the shadows of Cleveland and Cincinnati, Columbus has a tendency to think of itself as second string, not quite as impressive as these other cities.And this self image has persisted even though both Cincinnati and Cleveland have struggled in recent years, losing population while this area grows and thrives in comparison.
Congregations often suffer from a similar inferiority problem.I have heard church experts say that most churches underestimate their size and capabilities.My own experience certainly bears this out.I’ve heard numerous folks in this congregation and in my previous one speak of being a small congregation.But in fact, we are bigger than roughly three quarters of all Presbyterian congregations.
Not too long ago we began an Appreciative Inquiry process here leading to the formation of our Dream Team. They are seeking to hear where God is calling us as a congregation.And in the early part of this process, as we catalogued the many activities and programs already going on at Boulevard, I heard a number of people express their surprise at how busy a place this actually is.That didn’t quite fit with the small image some of us have.
As I said, this seems to be normal.I’m not sure why.Perhaps because there is always some congregation that is bigger and more impressive, we tend to underestimate ourselves.Regardless, our tendency to minimize our own gifts and abilities does limit us, does sometimes keep us from doing all that we might do.But I actually think this is a rather minor problem.
I say that because there is a bigger problem afflicting many congregations, no matter how accurately they view their gifts, talents, and resources.The problem is that they view their congregation as nothing more than the sum of the members’ gifts, talents, and resources.What they, what we can do or can’t do is purely a function of these members.If we are an impressive bunch of folks with an impressive array of abilities, then we will be an impressive congregation.If not, well…
Of course we can always work to improve our credentials.Our elders and deacons can attend leadership seminars.Our teachers can attend teacher training.There are companies that will sell us stewardship programs guaranteed to increase pledges.Pastors can attend preaching, worship, and other workshops.There are endless things we can do to make ourselves better and more impressive.But none of these will solve the problem of thinking that a congregation rises and falls simply on the strengths and weaknesses of its members.
Our two scripture readings for this morning may be helpful in understanding what I’m talking about.Granted these stories come from a time before denominations and church buildings, but they are still about congregations, about groups of believers who have banded together.
One of these congregations is depicted in John’s gospel.It has gathered for a Sunday evening prayer service on the very day of Jesus’ resurrection. It is the end of what must have been an incredible day.Jesus had been executed on Friday and his body placed in the tomb late that day.In Jewish thought the new day began at sundown, and so the Sabbath had begun almost as soon as Jesus was in the tomb.That meant that nothing more could be done until Sunday.Sunday began following sundown on the Sabbath, but in a world without electricity or streetlights, no one headed for the tomb until early in the morning.
Mary Magdalene was so eager that she had actually gone before first light, only to find the tomb open and Jesus’ body gone.She ran back and got two of the disciples who went to the tomb and found it just as Mary said, but then they had returned.But Mary had remained, and she had met the risen Jesus.Afterwards she had rushed back to tell the others.“I have seen the Lord,” she said to them, and she told them what Jesus had said about ascending to the Father.
Word had quickly spread among the eleven and then to the larger community of disciples.What did this all mean?All their hopes had been dashed on Friday, but now some of them felt a faint glimmer.And so they gathered for that prayer meeting as darkness descended.They carefully checked the door as people arrived, verified who they were and let them in.And they kept the door securely locked.The authorities had killed Jesus; they would not hesitate to kill the disciples if they got wind that they were trying to keep things going.They were terrified, and who could blame them.
There is a slightly different congregation found in our reading from the book of Acts, although we see only a few of the congregation’s leaders.They’ve been arrested by the same authorities who so frightened those attending that Sunday night prayer meeting the day of Jesus’ resurrection.Actually, this is the second time they’ve been arrested for saying Jesus is the Messiah and that he has been raised from the dead.They had been strictly ordered not to do this, but they have persisted despite the threat of arrest and even death.And they will not back down even when they stand before those authorities.
Of course many of you know that these aren’t really two different congregations.True, the congregation has added a few members between the story in John and the one in Acts, but it is the very same folks who hid behind locked doors who now boldly defy the authorities.
But even though it is the same people, they sure seem like different congregations.One is frightened and worried about self-preservation.The other is bold and fearless, totally unconcerned about its own safety, focused on reaching out to others.They are the same people, with the same gifts and talents, but nothing looks the same.
Now if congregations are simply the sum of their members’ gifts, talents, and resources, these folks must have been quite busy attending seminars and workshops.They must have gone to evangelism classes and leadership workshops and motivational events.They must have countless hours in meetings to come up with a better mission statement and better programming for their church.Still, it is hard to comprehend how the same folks locked behind closed doors are now standing boldly and fearlessly before the very people who terrified them only a few weeks before.
When I went to seminary and took “Preaching and Worship” my first year, the very first sermon I wrote was from today’s gospel reading.In it I wondered aloud how on earth Jesus could possible hand over the reins of his Church to this frightened bunch hiding behind locked doors.Could there be a much less impressive group of folks?What was he thinking turning loose this bunch?
In that first sermon, I also wondered about the congregations I had grown up in.Some were better than others, but we could be pretty timid and unimpressive ourselves.If Jesus had ever showed up at one of those congregations and commissioned us like he did to those disciples hiding behind locked doors, I’d have wondered what in the world he was thinking then, too.
But when Jesus looks at those folks quivering in fear, when he looks at us, he sees something different than I do.He sees bold, fearless believers who defy the authorities despite arrest, imprisonment, and the threat of death.Jesus looks at people who seem totally incapable of something so important as continuing his ministry on earth and sees an incredible future.He knows that they are not limited by their frailties and uncertainties and fears, because he does not send them out on their own.
Jesus says, “Receive the Holy Spirit… Receive the Holy Spirit… Receive the Holy Spirit… “ (each time facing a different area of the congregation).“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
In today's reading from Exodus, Moses commands the people of Israel to remember. "Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." Israel can not be who she is called to be without remembering. Her own identity is caught up in this remembering. When Israel forgets that her very existence is a gift from God, that is the beginning of an identity shift. Israel will begin to become something other than God called her to be.
Identity and remembering are closely related. When married couples forget how their spouse used to make them feel, when they forget the sacrifices the other has made, and when they forget the promises made to each other, they can begin to lose their identity, to live as though they were not husband and wife.
In today's gospel, Jesus commissions the disciples and the Church saying, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." But this task requires a great deal of remembering. "Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" requires us to remember. And here, remembering includes doing.
I think a good argument can be made that some of the Church's difficulties in our day are the result of a loss of identity, an identity crisis brought on by failing to remember. Very often we in congregations "believe" in Jesus but obey very little that he commands us. We have forgotten all that nonsense about taking up the cross, about giving ourselves totally to God, about our neighbors' needs - even neighbors who are from other cultures and countries - being every bit as important as our own. We've forgotten more than we remember, and so our identity has become so compromised that we are virtually indistinguishable from the culture.
One of the great medical tragedies of our time is Alzheimer's disease. A big part of its horror is the slow forgetting that accompanies it, the slow loss of a loved one who gradually forgets who he or she is. Sometimes we in the Church look a bit like someone in the early stages of Alzheimer's. We continue with some of the same routines, but increasingly their meaning is lost as we forget who we are.
But in the Church's case, this is not irreversible. Our identity can be recovered if we are willing to do the work of reclaiming it, of remembering who it is Jesus calls us to be.
The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
In a Bible study class this morning we were talking about a story in Joshua where God "fought for Israel," killing the enemy with hailstones and causing the sun to stop in midheaven. The story unashamedly insists that God intervened in history for Israel. But class members struggled to speak literally of God intervening in history. The story in Joshua seemed an ancient perception of natural events.
Today's lectionary passages speak of a God whose power at work in the world is amazing, even terrifying; the Passover and Israel's escape from Egypt; and perhaps the most incredible exercise of divine power, the Resurrection. Psalm 99 also opens by acknowledging the power of God that cause the people to tremble and the earth to quake.
But many modern Christians worship a God who is distant, withdrawn, and little interested in intervening in history. If this God is concerned with us, it is only on a very personal level. Indeed the only examples this morning's Bible study could come up with for God intervening in history were little personal nudges that had perhaps altered their lives' trajectory a bit.
It sometimes seems that we have traded the awesome God of all creation for a divine buddy who can make us feel better, but little else. No wonder a recent, mammoth study of the faith of American youth and young adults characterized that faith as "Moralistic, Therapeutic, Deism."
In her book, When God Is Silent, Barbara Brown Taylor wonders about our current situation where God seems downright quiet compared to biblical times. And she draws on the prophet Amos and his warning about a coming famine, "not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD." And I wonder if our loss of awe, our loss of any sense that God can act powerfully in history, is not of a piece with this. Indeed, why should God speak to a people who cannot imagine that God might intervene with power and might for the poor and oppressed, for the weak and the vulnerable, and against those who exploit them?
Most Sundays in worship, our congregation repeats the Apostles' Creed, in which we say that we believe in, among other things, "the resurrection of the body." Like a lot of things that get repeated routinely in worship, I don't know that people often give much thought to what they say. I feel pretty safe that they don't with this line considering how little most folks connect resurrection with "the body."
For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, Christian belief in resurrection has become wedded to Greek philosophical notions of the immortality of the soul. For a lot of Christians, resurrection is simply another way of saying that our soul persists after death, with the added benefit that it is with God in some way.
It is interesting to contrast this with how Paul thinks about resurrection. For him, and indeed for the Bible, resurrection is connected to bodily existence. Jesus' bodily resurrection at Easter is a precursor of what is to come. When Jesus returns, death will be totally defeated and the dead will be raised. In our reading today, Paul speaks of death as an enemy, the last enemy to be defeated when Jesus returns. Paul does not view death as a natural passage from this life to the next. Rather he sees death as an enemy of life itself. But Jesus' resurrection means the power of death is not absolute. This enemy could not hold Jesus. And so we trust that it will not be able to hold us.
Richard Hays, in his commentary on First Corinthians (in the Interpretation series p.279), tells of a young woman whose 18 year old sister had been killed in an auto accident. Friends and family kept telling her that she should should be glad that her sister was in heaven. Surely her sister, who had been an unhappy child, was much happier now. This young woman was infuriated by pious talk that seemed to deny the tragedy of her sister's death. But she also felt guilty that, as a Christian, she ought to believe the pious things she was being told. This young woman found Paul's words to be incredibly liberating. They allowed her to mourn the tragic death of her sister, while giving her a strong hope that she would yet embrace her sister again some day.
What do you understand resurrection to mean, and how did you come to have this understanding?
In John's gospel, Mary goes to the tomb "while it was still dark." And Mary is caught up in that darkness even after finding the empty tomb. Mary's witness is powerful precisely because she knows the depth of the darkness.
Surely Easter is the brightest day of the year for the Church.The culture may prefer Christmas, but the Church knows that Easter is the center.The very fact that we worship on Sunday rather than the Sabbath is a nod to Easter. Each Sunday we celebrate the resurrection.
This Sunday would have been a great day to attend an Easter sunrise service.The light streaming over the horizon signals a new day, the Day of Resurrection.We rejoice in its dawning.But in John’s gospel, there is no sunlight on that first Easter morn.Mary heads to the tomb early, while it is still dark.
In John’s gospel, we hear often of light and dark.The gospel opens with the Word that was in the beginning with God.This Word is the light of all people.The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.But try telling that to Mary as she makes her way in the darkness to find an empty tomb.In the dark, the empty tomb brings no joy to Mary.All she can think is that grave robbers have struck.And so she runs to find Peter and that other disciple.Maybe they can help her find Jesus’ body.
I’m not at all sure what motivates the foot race that follows.The last time we saw Peter he was denying that he was one of Jesus’ disciples, but the other disciple was there with Jesus at the cross.Is Peter trying to redeem himself here?What does he hope to find when he gets there?But the other disciple bests Peter again, although Peter enters the tomb first.
They see the grave clothes, neatly folded, not at all like when Jesus raised Lazarus who came out of the tomb all tangled up in cloth, needing to be unbound.When the beloved disciple with Peter goes in and sees it, he believes.Just what he believes is a bit unclear. The reading says he doesn’t understand that Jesus must rise from the dead.He apparently doesn’t get what has happened.Still he believes.
Maybe this comforted him in some way that he couldn’t quite understand. I don’t know.But he and Peter go home, leaving Mary alone in the dark.Sometimes I think that we in the church are a bit like this.We see the empty tomb.We believe it is good news in some way.We celebrate Easter and we go home.And we never quite seem to recognize or confront the darkness.But Mary does.
Mary is caught up in darkness.How could she not be?Her loss is so great.Obviously she has loved Jesus dearly.She stood by him as he died.Now, before it was even safe to be out, she has gone his grave.But his body is not there.
Desecration of a body was a terrible thing for Jews such as Mary.In our day, we’ve seen news stories about funeral homes that didn’t actually bury people where they said or presented families with ashes that weren’t actually their loved ones.The trauma for these families is terrible.First the loss of a loved one and then this.Darkness on top of darkness.
But today is Easter and we are here to celebrate the light that darkness could not overwhelm.But that does not mean there is no darkness.And I worry that the church’s witness is sometimes compromised by not confronting or even acknowledging the darkness.
Sometimes people outside the church view us as a bunch of Pollyannas who see the world through rose colored glasses.I realize that does not accurately describe many of you, but it is how we are often perceived.And we do sometimes live out this stereotype.
As a pastor I spend more than my share of time around illness, pain, tragedy, and death.And I see church members lovingly care for one another and support one another in times of great difficulty.Yet I have observed that those whose presence is least comforting are often those who waltz into the room with an Easter message on their lips.“Cheer up.Everything is going to be okay.He’s in a better place.You should be happy that she is in heaven.”All those things may be true, but they do not change the fact that the pain, the loss, the darkness of that moment can be overwhelming.This sort of “comfort” seems to deny the darkness.
True Christian witness knows all about darkness.That is why Mary is such a compelling witness, even in a day when women were not considered reliable or legally valid witnesses.Mary is no cheery-faced Pollyanna.She does not go to the tomb sure that everything will come out all right in the end.
She is distraught.She has watched Jesus die an agonizing death.She has had to delay visiting his grave because of the Sabbath.And now that grave is empty.Even the presence of angels cannot draw her out of the darkness.At first, even Jesus himself cannot deflect her desire to find the body, to find some small anchor to hold onto in the midst of the darkness that she fears may swallow her up entirely.
Then Jesus speaks.The good shepherd calls his sheep, and she recognizes his voice.The darkness is real, but it has not been able to swallow up this light.And when Mary tells the others, “I have seen the Lord,” it is the powerful witness of one who knows full well the terrors of the darkness.It is the powerful witness of one who knows that no matter the terrible pain and suffering in the world, no matter the awful power of darkness, God’s love will somehow triumph.
This is a promise that has transformed countless people prompting them to live totally new lives, to challenge the powers of darkness even at the risk of their own lives, because they know that even death cannot separate them from God’s love.
But then religious folk go and domesticate the message, robbing it of its power and hope.I’m not talking about people like you.I’m talking about people like me, pastors, theologians, and educators who want to explain it and help everyone understand.We compare resurrection to a butterfly emerging from a cocoon and invoke images of spring, as if the whole business was simply the normal course of things.Oh, there’s not really any darkness.It was just winter.It’s just the natural order.
Mary knows better.Mary can come and sit with the mother who has just lost a child, the soldier whose body and mind was shattered by a roadside bomb, the father who has lost job and home and must take his family to a shelter, the person whose marriage has disintegrated.And Mary can speak good news to them because she knows their darkness is real.She makes no claims that it is not, nor does she pretend to fully understand how on earth God’s creation could have gotten so messed up, so filled with darkness.Her message is simple.She has seen the Lord, and so she knows that no enemy, no darkness, is stronger than God and God’s love.
Darkness is real.Most of us have times in our lives when we fear that it could swallow us.But, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. God has done the impossible!Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!Thanks be to God!
Today's lectionary has more readings than usual because of Maundy Thursday. Today Christians worldwide will gather to remember and to share the bread and cup. And as Paul writes, "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."
I often lament the fact that many Christians seem to think of every Lord's Supper as a reenactment of Maundy Thursday. The early Church clearly did not. It was a "joyful feast," a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. But tonight is different. Tonight, while the promise of a feast is still present, we are centered around God's love in Jesus, a love that was willing to risk everything for us.
There is much that divides Christians. We come in many shapes and sizes with varied theologies and practices. Sometimes we act as though being a real Christian means agreeing with our practices and theology. But tonight the focus moves off us as we remember. Tonight we recall that each one of us is embraced in God's love, not because we got our theology or practice correct, but because God so loves the world.
Today's reading from Hebrews contains some of my favorite words in Scripture. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God." I have always been drawn to these words even though my faith has often been lived out in the most private and individual ways. Despite my typical, American individualism, I long for this sense of community, a community that is bigger than those I know, one that reaches back in history linking me with all the faithful of the past.
At a recent men's prayer breakfast, a church member led us in a discussion about loneliness, focusing on how men seem to have more problems with this. I certainly have experienced this myself. My own introversion combines with a drive to be competent and successful in ways that often minimize relationship. Yet over and over the Bible talks of our faith in terms of community and relationship. Hebrews even speaks of our actions benefiting faithful people of the past, saying in the verse that precedes today's reading, "... so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect."
Despite my own personal, individualistic tendencies, I feel strangely warmed and drawn to this notion of true community, a communion of saints that transcends all boundaries. And what better time than Holy Week, as Christians throughout the world focus once again on the events in Jerusalem all those years ago, to remember that we all are made one in Jesus, and we're all in this together.
In today's reading from Exodus, the Israelites head out from the Red Sea after their miraculous escape through the waters. But soon they are thirsty and, finding no drinkable water, they "complained against Moses." Moses cries out to God who gives them water. But soon they are hungry, and even though God has worked one miracle after another, they complain again. "If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
