ELCA Ads
The above is a link to some ads the ELCA will be airing on the Travel Channel is the next few weeks. One is about a church in the US that serves a beautiful, bountiful banquet to the homeless and hungry of their community each week; the other is about a Lutheran mission that is changing lives in Senegal.
If you have a chance, please click on the link and go watch the videos. They are a powerful testimony to what our church is doing in the world!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
September 28, 2008 - Pentecost + 20
Jesus Makes a New Way
Matthew 21:23-32 + Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
September 28, 2008 – Pentecost + 20
I don't know how many of you remember the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, but as a kid, I watched it quite a bit. It's the story of the Griswold family and their trek across country to go to an amusement park. The trip is masterminded by the husband and father of the family, Clark, who has his ideal vacation all planned out in his mind. But the trip is just one comic mishap after another. In one classic scene, somewhere in Arizona, cruising down the road in the Family Truckster station wagon looking for the Grand Canyon, Clark's wife begins to realize that they're lost. But Clark refuses to listen to her, arguing that of course he knows where he's going – How hard can it be to find the grand canyon? While they're arguing and looking at the map, they drive straight past a sign that says “Road Closed ahead.” And when their daughter tells them she saw a detour sign, Clark still refuses to admit that they might be on the wrong road. “Audrey,” he tells her, “when they close the road, they put up big signs, like that one,” as the car goes crashing through a barricade and flies through the air, landing in the middle of nowhere in the desert.
But even this isn't enough for Clark. He is bound and determined to be the hero, so off he goes into the desert to look for a gas station to send help back to his family. Well, of course you know that he wanders through the desert in the middle of the day for hours, hopelessly lost. When he finally stumbles into the gas station, his whole family is already there. While he's been out trying to do it on his own, they have been found and rescued by people on horseback who sent a tow truck to bring them safely in from the desert.
It struck me as I was thinking about the gospel for today that the chief priests and elders of the people were kind of like Clark Griswold. There they were, headed down the wrong road, but they didn't know it. They had checked all the maps, planned out their route, and by gum, no matter what happened, they were gonna stick to the plan. Their map was the law of God. They had been taught, and believed, that following the law to the letter, sticking to it religiously would lead to life, to God. And even though they haven't seen any signs lately that they are getting closer, they have continued down the same road, convinced that they are going the right way.
But somewhere along the road, they pass right by the “Road Closed” sign. It's not that the sign wasn't big enough – they were just too buried in their maps to look up and see the sign. And then when John the Baptist came along to give the warning, telling them to turn around, like Clark's wife & daughter did, they stubbornly refused to believe him. Does John think they don't know where they're going? They are the teachers and leaders of the people. Of course they know what they're doing! This is the right road – God's gotta be around here somewhere...
Until suddenly they find themselves barreling down the road toward a road closed barrier. The road of their self-reliance, of thinking they have got it all figured out dead ends, and they go crashing through. Jesus finally gets their attention, entering the temple, turning over tables, driving out all who were buying and selling, healing others, and accepting the praises of children.
And still, even though they are broken down, the priests and elders don't want to admit they have been driving down the wrong road all this time. “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” And struggling with the question Jesus asks them in return, it's off into the desert to save themselves.
At times in our lives, all of us have set out, maps in hand (or GPS system turned on), convinced we are on the right road, knowing that if we just drive far enough, we will find the road that leads to life, to God. For many of us, those maps may be a set of moral rules for living, detailing what is right & what is wrong in every situation, down to the last detail. The maps also give us guidelines about who is or is not a suitable companion for the journey. But sometimes we get our noses so stuck in the map that we miss the signs and signals that maybe we are headed in the wrong direction. We may even ignore the warnings others give us, telling us that we're headed to a dead-end, and stubbornly staying the course. Because we want to be in control. We want to be in the driver's seat, and we can navigate for ourselves just fine, thanks! Even if we get lost, we'll just keep driving around in circles, rather than stop and admit that we don't have a clue where we are going or what we are doing, until we finally find ourselves crashing through a barricade, stranded on the side of the road.
But even when the road dead ends like that, when we've ignored the warning signs, Jesus comes and makes a new way. That's what the tax collectors and prostitutes Jesus speaks of understood that the elders and priests missed. The tax collectors and prostitutes knew they were going down the wrong road. And maybe they didn't know how to get themselves turned around and back on the right road on their own, but when John the Baptist came with his detour sign, they took it. They followed the detour and turned around – they repented. That's what repent means – to turn around. They turned from their sinful lives, from the road that leads to captivity and to death, and turned to new life, the new road that Jesus made for them. It's the road that leads to the kingdom of God – a road that was still open for the priests and elders. But the prostitutes and tax collectors recognized their need first, their complete inability to do it on their own. They accepted the help of the one who came to rescue them, & that's why Jesus said they would enter God's kingdom ahead of the priests and elders.
Jesus comes to us this morning too – This story is our detour sign, but it also comes with a promise. If you're going your own direction, whether you are convinced that it is the road that leads to life, or if you know that you are headed the wrong way – if you think you can get there on your own, you'd better turn around, because the road is out ahead. We can't find true life through our own efforts, we can't find it through following a million moral laws like they're a road map to heaven, we can't find it by stubbornly walking through the desert looking for help on our own.
But Jesus has made a new way – one that doesn't depend on us or our driving skills or sense of direction. It depends on Jesus, for he is the Way. He is always there, calling to us to turn around, to get off the road we have planned for ourselves and to detour back to him. He is always there to point us back to the road that leads to true life. And if we need it, he is the tow truck that comes to us out in the desert when we have crashed through the Road Closed signs of life. So what are you waiting for? Turn to Jesus and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! God has no pleasure in the death of anyone. Turn, then, and live! Amen.
Matthew 21:23-32 + Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
September 28, 2008 – Pentecost + 20
I don't know how many of you remember the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, but as a kid, I watched it quite a bit. It's the story of the Griswold family and their trek across country to go to an amusement park. The trip is masterminded by the husband and father of the family, Clark, who has his ideal vacation all planned out in his mind. But the trip is just one comic mishap after another. In one classic scene, somewhere in Arizona, cruising down the road in the Family Truckster station wagon looking for the Grand Canyon, Clark's wife begins to realize that they're lost. But Clark refuses to listen to her, arguing that of course he knows where he's going – How hard can it be to find the grand canyon? While they're arguing and looking at the map, they drive straight past a sign that says “Road Closed ahead.” And when their daughter tells them she saw a detour sign, Clark still refuses to admit that they might be on the wrong road. “Audrey,” he tells her, “when they close the road, they put up big signs, like that one,” as the car goes crashing through a barricade and flies through the air, landing in the middle of nowhere in the desert.
But even this isn't enough for Clark. He is bound and determined to be the hero, so off he goes into the desert to look for a gas station to send help back to his family. Well, of course you know that he wanders through the desert in the middle of the day for hours, hopelessly lost. When he finally stumbles into the gas station, his whole family is already there. While he's been out trying to do it on his own, they have been found and rescued by people on horseback who sent a tow truck to bring them safely in from the desert.
It struck me as I was thinking about the gospel for today that the chief priests and elders of the people were kind of like Clark Griswold. There they were, headed down the wrong road, but they didn't know it. They had checked all the maps, planned out their route, and by gum, no matter what happened, they were gonna stick to the plan. Their map was the law of God. They had been taught, and believed, that following the law to the letter, sticking to it religiously would lead to life, to God. And even though they haven't seen any signs lately that they are getting closer, they have continued down the same road, convinced that they are going the right way.
But somewhere along the road, they pass right by the “Road Closed” sign. It's not that the sign wasn't big enough – they were just too buried in their maps to look up and see the sign. And then when John the Baptist came along to give the warning, telling them to turn around, like Clark's wife & daughter did, they stubbornly refused to believe him. Does John think they don't know where they're going? They are the teachers and leaders of the people. Of course they know what they're doing! This is the right road – God's gotta be around here somewhere...
Until suddenly they find themselves barreling down the road toward a road closed barrier. The road of their self-reliance, of thinking they have got it all figured out dead ends, and they go crashing through. Jesus finally gets their attention, entering the temple, turning over tables, driving out all who were buying and selling, healing others, and accepting the praises of children.
And still, even though they are broken down, the priests and elders don't want to admit they have been driving down the wrong road all this time. “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” And struggling with the question Jesus asks them in return, it's off into the desert to save themselves.
At times in our lives, all of us have set out, maps in hand (or GPS system turned on), convinced we are on the right road, knowing that if we just drive far enough, we will find the road that leads to life, to God. For many of us, those maps may be a set of moral rules for living, detailing what is right & what is wrong in every situation, down to the last detail. The maps also give us guidelines about who is or is not a suitable companion for the journey. But sometimes we get our noses so stuck in the map that we miss the signs and signals that maybe we are headed in the wrong direction. We may even ignore the warnings others give us, telling us that we're headed to a dead-end, and stubbornly staying the course. Because we want to be in control. We want to be in the driver's seat, and we can navigate for ourselves just fine, thanks! Even if we get lost, we'll just keep driving around in circles, rather than stop and admit that we don't have a clue where we are going or what we are doing, until we finally find ourselves crashing through a barricade, stranded on the side of the road.
But even when the road dead ends like that, when we've ignored the warning signs, Jesus comes and makes a new way. That's what the tax collectors and prostitutes Jesus speaks of understood that the elders and priests missed. The tax collectors and prostitutes knew they were going down the wrong road. And maybe they didn't know how to get themselves turned around and back on the right road on their own, but when John the Baptist came with his detour sign, they took it. They followed the detour and turned around – they repented. That's what repent means – to turn around. They turned from their sinful lives, from the road that leads to captivity and to death, and turned to new life, the new road that Jesus made for them. It's the road that leads to the kingdom of God – a road that was still open for the priests and elders. But the prostitutes and tax collectors recognized their need first, their complete inability to do it on their own. They accepted the help of the one who came to rescue them, & that's why Jesus said they would enter God's kingdom ahead of the priests and elders.
Jesus comes to us this morning too – This story is our detour sign, but it also comes with a promise. If you're going your own direction, whether you are convinced that it is the road that leads to life, or if you know that you are headed the wrong way – if you think you can get there on your own, you'd better turn around, because the road is out ahead. We can't find true life through our own efforts, we can't find it through following a million moral laws like they're a road map to heaven, we can't find it by stubbornly walking through the desert looking for help on our own.
But Jesus has made a new way – one that doesn't depend on us or our driving skills or sense of direction. It depends on Jesus, for he is the Way. He is always there, calling to us to turn around, to get off the road we have planned for ourselves and to detour back to him. He is always there to point us back to the road that leads to true life. And if we need it, he is the tow truck that comes to us out in the desert when we have crashed through the Road Closed signs of life. So what are you waiting for? Turn to Jesus and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! God has no pleasure in the death of anyone. Turn, then, and live! Amen.
Friday, September 26, 2008
September 21 - Pentecost + 19
God is Generous Beyond Our Deserving
Matthew 20:1-16
Pentecost + 19, September 21, 2008
Having raised four kids, my parents, I am sure, heard the phrase, “But it's not f-a-i-r!” more times than they would like to remember. My brother and sisters and I were masters of figuring out when something was unfair in our house, especially when it came to how my mom and dad treated each of us.
“How come he gets to stay up as late as I do? He's 4 years younger than me!” “How come I always have to do the dishes and she gets to watch TV?” “Why did you give her the same allowance? I do more around the house than she does!” “You gave him better presents than me!” “It's not fair!”
And as much as I'd like to tell you that we grew out of it as we headed into our teen years, you all know that's not true. Our complaints just branched out into new areas – like who got to drive the car, or why the curfew seemed to get later as we moved down the line of seniority.
Yes, the issues changed, but whatever the subject at hand, our demands for our parents to be fair always had to do us not getting as much as we thought we deserved, or my brother or sisters getting more than we thought they deserved – in comparison to what we had received.
Now I know that my family is not unique. Anyone here who has had a child or has been a child can imagine these scenes from their own memories. It seems to afflict us universally, this need to make sure we get our fair share and that no one else gets more than their fair share.
It's what makes this story from Matthew's gospel so powerful, because it's so real. Jesus tells this parable about a landowner who needs some extra help to work in his vineyard. So at daybreak, off he goes to the marketplace and hires some men, making a deal with them for the usual daily wage. Then, at 9 AM, the landowner goes back out, gathers some more men, & agrees to pay them “whatever is right.” At noon and 3 o'clock, he goes again and hires more men! This must be quite a vineyard! Finally, at 5 o'clock, just an hour before quittin' time, the landowner returns to the marketplace and finds men that no one had hired all day. These, too, he offers work.
All is well and good until the work day ends, and the day laborers come in from the vineyard to receive their pay. And all still would have been well, if the owner had just had 'em line up in the order they had been hired. But no. He has to have the last go to the front of the line. He pays them a full day's wage, and of course the early birds think that means he's gonna pay them even more – because it would only be fair... but when they finally come to get paid, the manager hands them a measly denarius – the same thing everybody else got! How is this possible? This isn't equal pay for equal work! Those other workers didn't slave all day in the hot sun! How dare he? “It's not fair, it's not fair!” they complain. “You have made them equal to us! It's not fair!”
My guess is, a lot of us identify with those early workers. We hear about their situation, and our hearts chime in that it's not fair. We know those last workers didn't deserve to get paid the same thing, and it outrages us! Even when we realize that this story is about much more than fair labor practices and fair compensation for the work that we do.
Because when we realize that this parable is about how God runs God's kingdom, about how lavish God is with God's grace, we are taken aback. Oh, I know we shouldn't be, but deep down, you know we all are. We Lutherans talk a good game about how we are justified by grace through faith and not through works of the law, but our inner cry against the land owner's unfairness reveals that somewhere inside, we think our works should count for something, that we who have been working in God's vineyard for a while should rank higher than someone else who comes later. Maybe without even realizing it, we think that we should get extra credit from God for our attendance at church, or the many volunteer hours we have clocked, or the money we have donated. It offends us to think that God could give the same reward to someone who spends their life rebelling against God and only answers God's call to follow in the last hour, on their deathbed. Something within us wants to cry out that it isn't fair! How can we earn the same pay at the end of the day?!
But that's just it! We think this story is all about us and what we have earned or what someone else didn't earn. But really, this passage from Matthew's gospel is not about the workers or what they have logically earned at all! It's a story about the land owner, who gives not what is fair by the world's standards, but what is right by his own standards.
This story about the land owner reveals one who continues to seek out those in need, who is not satisfied until all have work. He comes back to the marketplace again and again and again throughout the day. The truth is, the land owner Jesus speaks of probably didn't need so many helpers. But the workers needed him and the offer he brought them. Without a job for the day, they and their families would go hungry. They would sink deeper into the poverty that stalked them. And so the land owner, compassionate and generous beyond what was fair, came looking for them, taking even the workers no one else thought was worthy to be hired, the ones who had been passed over throughout the day. And when the end of the day came, he paid them all, not according to their merit or the length of time they had served, but according to their need. The ones who came at the 11th hour might not have deserved it, but they needed it just as much, and so the land owner reached out to meet that need, even though they hadn't earned it.
This story is a parable, meant to show us how God operates in God's kingdom. It is a reminder to us that God does not necessarily operate by the standards of what we think is fair, but what God thinks is right. And while we may shout, “It's not fair!” we can also thank God that God isn't fair. Because if God were fair, we would all be in big trouble. None of us, no matter how hard we work, deserve what God has given us, and yet God chooses to give anyway. All that we have: our belongings, our work, our families, our lives; forgiveness and life to come – everything is a gift from God, freely & generously given beyond our explanation, and beyond our expectations! At the end of the day, God chooses to cover us all with grace upon grace, a free gift that comes from the depth of God's love for us. Thanks be to God for loving us beyond what we deserve!
Amen.
Matthew 20:1-16
Pentecost + 19, September 21, 2008
Having raised four kids, my parents, I am sure, heard the phrase, “But it's not f-a-i-r!” more times than they would like to remember. My brother and sisters and I were masters of figuring out when something was unfair in our house, especially when it came to how my mom and dad treated each of us.
“How come he gets to stay up as late as I do? He's 4 years younger than me!” “How come I always have to do the dishes and she gets to watch TV?” “Why did you give her the same allowance? I do more around the house than she does!” “You gave him better presents than me!” “It's not fair!”
And as much as I'd like to tell you that we grew out of it as we headed into our teen years, you all know that's not true. Our complaints just branched out into new areas – like who got to drive the car, or why the curfew seemed to get later as we moved down the line of seniority.
Yes, the issues changed, but whatever the subject at hand, our demands for our parents to be fair always had to do us not getting as much as we thought we deserved, or my brother or sisters getting more than we thought they deserved – in comparison to what we had received.
Now I know that my family is not unique. Anyone here who has had a child or has been a child can imagine these scenes from their own memories. It seems to afflict us universally, this need to make sure we get our fair share and that no one else gets more than their fair share.
It's what makes this story from Matthew's gospel so powerful, because it's so real. Jesus tells this parable about a landowner who needs some extra help to work in his vineyard. So at daybreak, off he goes to the marketplace and hires some men, making a deal with them for the usual daily wage. Then, at 9 AM, the landowner goes back out, gathers some more men, & agrees to pay them “whatever is right.” At noon and 3 o'clock, he goes again and hires more men! This must be quite a vineyard! Finally, at 5 o'clock, just an hour before quittin' time, the landowner returns to the marketplace and finds men that no one had hired all day. These, too, he offers work.
All is well and good until the work day ends, and the day laborers come in from the vineyard to receive their pay. And all still would have been well, if the owner had just had 'em line up in the order they had been hired. But no. He has to have the last go to the front of the line. He pays them a full day's wage, and of course the early birds think that means he's gonna pay them even more – because it would only be fair... but when they finally come to get paid, the manager hands them a measly denarius – the same thing everybody else got! How is this possible? This isn't equal pay for equal work! Those other workers didn't slave all day in the hot sun! How dare he? “It's not fair, it's not fair!” they complain. “You have made them equal to us! It's not fair!”
My guess is, a lot of us identify with those early workers. We hear about their situation, and our hearts chime in that it's not fair. We know those last workers didn't deserve to get paid the same thing, and it outrages us! Even when we realize that this story is about much more than fair labor practices and fair compensation for the work that we do.
Because when we realize that this parable is about how God runs God's kingdom, about how lavish God is with God's grace, we are taken aback. Oh, I know we shouldn't be, but deep down, you know we all are. We Lutherans talk a good game about how we are justified by grace through faith and not through works of the law, but our inner cry against the land owner's unfairness reveals that somewhere inside, we think our works should count for something, that we who have been working in God's vineyard for a while should rank higher than someone else who comes later. Maybe without even realizing it, we think that we should get extra credit from God for our attendance at church, or the many volunteer hours we have clocked, or the money we have donated. It offends us to think that God could give the same reward to someone who spends their life rebelling against God and only answers God's call to follow in the last hour, on their deathbed. Something within us wants to cry out that it isn't fair! How can we earn the same pay at the end of the day?!
But that's just it! We think this story is all about us and what we have earned or what someone else didn't earn. But really, this passage from Matthew's gospel is not about the workers or what they have logically earned at all! It's a story about the land owner, who gives not what is fair by the world's standards, but what is right by his own standards.
This story about the land owner reveals one who continues to seek out those in need, who is not satisfied until all have work. He comes back to the marketplace again and again and again throughout the day. The truth is, the land owner Jesus speaks of probably didn't need so many helpers. But the workers needed him and the offer he brought them. Without a job for the day, they and their families would go hungry. They would sink deeper into the poverty that stalked them. And so the land owner, compassionate and generous beyond what was fair, came looking for them, taking even the workers no one else thought was worthy to be hired, the ones who had been passed over throughout the day. And when the end of the day came, he paid them all, not according to their merit or the length of time they had served, but according to their need. The ones who came at the 11th hour might not have deserved it, but they needed it just as much, and so the land owner reached out to meet that need, even though they hadn't earned it.
This story is a parable, meant to show us how God operates in God's kingdom. It is a reminder to us that God does not necessarily operate by the standards of what we think is fair, but what God thinks is right. And while we may shout, “It's not fair!” we can also thank God that God isn't fair. Because if God were fair, we would all be in big trouble. None of us, no matter how hard we work, deserve what God has given us, and yet God chooses to give anyway. All that we have: our belongings, our work, our families, our lives; forgiveness and life to come – everything is a gift from God, freely & generously given beyond our explanation, and beyond our expectations! At the end of the day, God chooses to cover us all with grace upon grace, a free gift that comes from the depth of God's love for us. Thanks be to God for loving us beyond what we deserve!
Amen.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
September 14, 2008
Holy Cross Day – September 14, 2008
John 3:13-17 + 1 Cor. 1:18-24
Jesus Comes to Save the World
Today is Holy Cross Day. September 14 is the day set aside by the church to commemorate the finding of the “true” cross, the one that Jesus was said to have died on. It was found by St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, who you may or may not remember from history class. He was the one who made it legal to be a Christian throughout the Roman Empire. She found it while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and she & Constantine had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built to mark the site of the discovery. On September 14, the day after the church was dedicated, they brought the cross outside to give all of the faithful a chance to pray before the cross and to venerate it. Since that time, September 14 has become a day to celebrate the triumph of the cross.
But the cross didn't start out as a cause for celebration. The cross began as a symbol of degradation and shame. It was a sign of execution, of tortuous, punishing death. No wonder the apostle Paul calls the message of the cross foolishness to those who are perishing. Yet even in our day, where the cross has become a symbol of triumph, a piece of jewelry we wear around our necks, if we stop to consider what really happened there on the cross, the message of that cross strikes even us who believe, who are being saved according to Paul, not as the power of God, but as foolishness.
...and he went anyway. When the time had come, he went straight to the cross – do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. He went straight to the heart of human suffering and pain and death. He gave of himself until there was nothing left to give. He saw the world coming to get him, and he didn't do anything to get out of the way, he didn't fight back. And there on the cross, we see what happens when you don't fight back – you get crucified. Weakness and vulnerability add up to sure and certain death.
We, who are so wise in the ways of the world, see his action, or lack of action, as foolishness. Because the wisdom of the world says: When you are threatened, protect yourself. The best defense is a good offense. When you are threatened, you hit first, and hit hard, before the other guy can hit you. The wisdom of the world says: Never let 'em see you sweat. Don't reveal your weakness or vulnerability, because it just opens you up to attack.
But the way of the world reveals, not wisdom, but our own sinful selves, the anguish of a broken world that cannot heal itself, a world that stands in opposition to the ways of God, rebelling against God's vision for a world of harmony & peace, a world where we love our neighbors as ourselves.
But this is the same sin-filled world that Jesus came to save; this is the world God loves so much that God gave the only Son – not to condemn the world, but so that the world, all of creation, might be saved through him.
The battle between God's ways and the world's ways is already decided, the victory was won 2000 years ago on the cross for you & for me – won not through the wisdom of the world, not through the love of power, but through the power of love, the power that triumphs over all, the power that even death cannot destroy! This is Christ, the wisdom of God, and the power of God, the power of the love that will never let us go.
John 3:13-17 + 1 Cor. 1:18-24
Jesus Comes to Save the World
Today is Holy Cross Day. September 14 is the day set aside by the church to commemorate the finding of the “true” cross, the one that Jesus was said to have died on. It was found by St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, who you may or may not remember from history class. He was the one who made it legal to be a Christian throughout the Roman Empire. She found it while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and she & Constantine had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built to mark the site of the discovery. On September 14, the day after the church was dedicated, they brought the cross outside to give all of the faithful a chance to pray before the cross and to venerate it. Since that time, September 14 has become a day to celebrate the triumph of the cross.
But the cross didn't start out as a cause for celebration. The cross began as a symbol of degradation and shame. It was a sign of execution, of tortuous, punishing death. No wonder the apostle Paul calls the message of the cross foolishness to those who are perishing. Yet even in our day, where the cross has become a symbol of triumph, a piece of jewelry we wear around our necks, if we stop to consider what really happened there on the cross, the message of that cross strikes even us who believe, who are being saved according to Paul, not as the power of God, but as foolishness.
Foolishness, because Jesus knew what he was getting in to when he descended from heaven. He knew what he was in for when he came to Earth as a human being, that he would be subjected to all of the drama & trauma of life. It's right there in the gospel. He lays out the plan to Nicodemus: “...just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up...” There will be no ifs, ands, or buts about it. He must be lifted up. Jesus knew the end from the beginning; he knew that the cross stood at the end of his road...
...and he went anyway. When the time had come, he went straight to the cross – do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. He went straight to the heart of human suffering and pain and death. He gave of himself until there was nothing left to give. He saw the world coming to get him, and he didn't do anything to get out of the way, he didn't fight back. And there on the cross, we see what happens when you don't fight back – you get crucified. Weakness and vulnerability add up to sure and certain death.
We, who are so wise in the ways of the world, see his action, or lack of action, as foolishness. Because the wisdom of the world says: When you are threatened, protect yourself. The best defense is a good offense. When you are threatened, you hit first, and hit hard, before the other guy can hit you. The wisdom of the world says: Never let 'em see you sweat. Don't reveal your weakness or vulnerability, because it just opens you up to attack.
We see people acting on this world's wisdom all the time; & we know that it lives within us too. None of us is immune. We see it from kids on the playground all the way up to governments of the nations. We saw it in the attacks of 9-11, and dare I say, we saw it in our own responses of anger and revenge and fear. It's a natural human response; it's just the way of the world...
But the way of the world reveals, not wisdom, but our own sinful selves, the anguish of a broken world that cannot heal itself, a world that stands in opposition to the ways of God, rebelling against God's vision for a world of harmony & peace, a world where we love our neighbors as ourselves.
But this is the same sin-filled world that Jesus came to save; this is the world God loves so much that God gave the only Son – not to condemn the world, but so that the world, all of creation, might be saved through him.
Saved – not from a wrathful, vengeful God, but from ourselves, from our own self-destructiveness. Saved from our addiction to power and might, & our delusions that they are what this life is all about; saved from the notion that we must protect ourselves and those we love at any cost, that we are all that matters, and others can just fend for themselves. Jesus came into this world to save it and each of us, to set us free from our fears and anxieties, anger and hurt, worry and pain – all of the things that trap us and keep us from experiencing the lives that God wants for us.
What God wants is for us to have eternal life – Jesus tells Nicodemus that that's the reason that he came, the reason that he must be lifted up: so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. It's not just quantity he's talking about, but more importantly the quality of life. Eternal life is not just about life that never ends – eternal life is life that is lived in the unending presence of God, the never-ending love of God. Later in the Book of John, in chapter 17, Jesus defines eternal life for us: he says that eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ, the one God sent. It is newness of life that comes from this relationship – and it's available now! Eternal life begins in the present as we accept God's invitation to believe – to look to Jesus on the cross with trust and expectation about all that life holds for us, trust & belief that grows out of his love for us; the love that holds nothing back, but willingly gives it all so that we might know and experience that love.
The battle between God's ways and the world's ways is already decided, the victory was won 2000 years ago on the cross for you & for me – won not through the wisdom of the world, not through the love of power, but through the power of love, the power that triumphs over all, the power that even death cannot destroy! This is Christ, the wisdom of God, and the power of God, the power of the love that will never let us go.
Amen.
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