Sunday, September 13, 2009
September 13 - Pentecost + 15
Everybody wants to be a winner.
None of us wants to lose.
Never more clear to me than every fall
Back to school – back to sports → high school, college, NFL
Everyone rooting for their team, everyone wanting to win
And oh the heartbreak when they don't
– just ask my husband after last night's OSU-USC game
And when your team doesn't win, there's always some finger-pointing
Coaches often bear the brunt of it
FB last night & this morning – Jim Tressel's coaching
This week, a young man I know,
lamenting the 1st loss in an in-conference game in 5 or 6 years.
Whose fault? The terrible new coach!
University of Michigan coach – Rich Rodriguez –
last season, his 1st,
lucky it wasn't his last, w/ a 4-9 record –
Because people want to win!
And we expect our coaches to be the ones to lead us to victory
Peter & the disciples were no different than the rest of us.
They've been on a losing team for years!
The nation of Israel has had season after losing season
Right now, Rome is the big rival.
& Rome owns them;
they live under Roman law, Roman occupation
But they've had centuries of being the underdog
– the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Egyptians
But hope springs eternal
& this year, they have a new coach – Jesus,
one they know has what it takes to lead them to victory,
to beat the Romans at their own game
to send them packing back to where they came from.
I imagine them "on the way"
On a big yellow school bus,
Coach Jesus & his team
Jesus asking, what do the polls say about me?
How do I rate?
People are pretty impressed with his coaching ability
– comparing him w/ famous coaches of years past
– John the Baptist, Elijah, the other prophets
But what do you all think? Who do you say that I am?
And Peter & the other disciples know that there's something special about Jesus
Jesus is different than all the coaches who came before
– he's the Messiah, sure to win Coach of the Year
Certain to lead them to the championship game
To an undefeated record
And they're excited, because they want to win!
They want the power
and the glory
and the respect
and everything that goes along with being a winner
It sounds an awful lot like us
It's drilled into us from the time we are little.
We hand out those participation ribbons to all the kids on the team,
but we all know it's better to bring home the big trophy.
We all know that it's better to be on the winning team.
We all know it's better to be the best.
We want to be winners in life.
We want if not power over others, at least power over our own lives
We want to control our own destinies
We want to live the comfortable life, with money and respect
We want to be on a winning team
And we want a coach,
we expect a God,
who will lead us to that life of victory,
where there's not too much struggle,
or too much pain,
or too much sacrifice.
We want to be winners without the effort,
without the long hours of practice and discipline
without the hard work.
Which is why it's such a shock for us & for Peter
to hear these words coming out of Jesus' mouth in the gospel.
Somebody oughta give Coach Jesus a lesson
on how to give a pep talk.
Most coaches when they tell you how hard it's gonna be,
when they remind you of the obstacles you're facing,
when they remind you of how strong the other team is,
well, once they're done doing that,
they tell you how you're going to beat them,
how you're stronger than your opponent,
that at the end of the game, you'll be able to stand
with your head held high & your chest puffed out with pride,
because you will stand there the victor!
But not Jesus!
Jesus says to the disciples, “We're up against a tough team.
Things are gonna be hard.
We're gonna lose, and we're gonna lose big!
As great of a coach as you think I am, I'm gonna get ejected from the game."
The Son of Man must undergo suffering
and be rejected by the elders & chief priests & scribes,
and be killed.
And not only that, if you want to play on my team, the same will happen to you!
You wanna play for me?
You'll have to take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow me
We want a coach that will lead us through the easy schedule,
where we don't face any real hurdles or opponents,
but that is not the coach we have,
that is not the life Jesus calls us too – and the biggest obstacle is ourselves.
Jesus tells us we'll have to put aside our selfish ambitions,
our prideful egos,
our sinful selves that want to win at any cost,
that look for the easy way out,
who just want to live a nice, quiet, comfortable life
where not much is expected of us,
not much is asked.
But the life of discipleship is not about being comfortable
It's not about being coddled.
The life of discipleship is about Jesus' call to follow.
It's about being challenged to live in a new way.
It's about self-sacrifice
It's about taking one for the team –
not the kind of suffering that's just for suffering's sake,
but the kind that comes
from willingly giving up our rights to ourselves
so that someone else can benefit
I saw a movie a few years ago called Facing the Giants
another inspirational sports movie, but with a twist
– produced by a church, with a heavy God-component.
A bit simplistic,
kind of makes it sound like if you just pray enough or the right way,
God will give you everything you want
& that's the exact opposite of what Jesus is saying here!
But some good stuff nevertheless
HS football coach who's had 6 losing seasons,
and people are calling for his head –
because everybody wants to win, right?
And none of his players have ever had a winning season under him.
One in particular, Brock, gives him a hard time;
And the other kids are looking to Brock to see how to be.
So one day at practice, the coach gives Brock a challenge
– the Death Crawl
Hands & feet (no knees), other kid on his back (back to back, holding on to sleeves)
Everyone has done it, 10 yards, 20 yards
Coach challenges Brock to go farther
Brock says, you want me to do 30? I can do 30
Coach says, I want you to do 50 yards.
I think you can do 50.
But even if you can't, I want you to give me your best.
I'll give you my best.
I mean it Brock, I want you to promise me you'll give me your best.
And Brock agrees, but you can see on his face that he doesn't quite mean it.'
Oh, and 1 more thing, Brock.
You're gonna do it blindfolded,
because I don't want you giving up because it seems too far
So down the field he starts – and Coach walks with him
And Brock starts to struggle,
his breathing is heavy, he's slowing down.
And Coach says, Don't you quit on me.
You can do this!
And Brock is really starting to struggle &
Coach gets down on the ground,
crawling on the ground beside Brock,
never leaving his side.
And Brock says it's too much,
It hurts, it burns, I can't do it.
And the Coach says, Don't you give up on me.
Don't you give up!
You can do this! Just 10 more steps. 10 more.
Just 5 more steps
5 more, 5 more.
And finally Brock collapses in a heap,
lies there on the ground,
chest heaving,
face in the grass.
And he's saying, "It had to be 50,
I had to make it to the 50.
It had to be 50."
And the Coach says,
"Take off your blindfold & look around
– you're in the end zone."
A model for this kind of discipleship Jesus talks about –
Because the discipleship Jesus calls us to is hard;
it is costly;
it asks more of us than we think we can give.
This kind of discipleship requires us to dig deep, to push ourselves.
Brock couldn't have done it without his Coach there beside him,
talking in his ear,
telling him to take a few more steps and a few more.
And just like Brock,
we have our coach right beside us,
urging us on,
calling us not to give up on this hard road of discipleship,
not to take the easy way out,
not to give up on him.
Because others are looking at us, others are counting on us.
Because when we live this way, our lives aren't the only lives that are changed.
We make a difference in the lives of the people around us,
we change the world around us.
And our Coach never leaves our side.
You may be thinking,
"That's good, Pr. Becky,
but that Coach didn't have to carry another person
the whole way down that football field
from endzone to endzone."
Well, Jesus never asks us to do anything he didn't do 1st.
And when Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow him
- Well, he carried that cross first.
He carried the weight of that cross
- the weight of our sins
- the weight of the world
all the way to that endzone on the hill of Calvary
And there, just when it looked like the game was over,
time had run out,
with Jesus hanging there lifeless on that cross,
Hope springs eternal!
Because Jesus says there will be suffering
and rejection
and death,
but he also promises that he will rise again!
Time gets added back on the clock & Jesus returns to win the day
And this time, it's a complete blow-out!
When Jesus comes, there's no question of who the victor is
Everybody likes to be on the winning team
With Jesus, we know we'll have the final victory
Thanks be to God
Amen
And here's the clip of that scene from the movie...
September 2 & 6 - Pentecost + 14
Boundaries
My 1st career working with teenagers in a group home
Seminary
any helping profession
emotional, relational, physical boundaries
Protect you, protect the other person
Good & right & helpful, but sometimes go too far
That's what we see in action in our readings from the gospel of Mark & James today
The gospel:
Jesus in beginning of gospel passage, making distinctions.
In Gentile country, in Tyre,
looking for a rest,
when a woman comes barging in looking for help
for her daughter who has an unclean spirit
But she's not the right religion,
too different for Jesus –
Not right to feed the kids' food to the dogs
(He calls her a dog! An insult, not pets or companions, but scavengers, like rats!)
Because even Jesus,
at least for that one moment,
held to a cultural, societal boundary;
his mission was to his own kind, not to Gentiles...
James
Human-created boundaries
between who is in, who's out;
who is acceptable, who is not;
who is welcome, who is not.
Gives a vivid example
– rich vs. poor & how they are welcomed in worship
Rich, w/ fine clothes & gold rings, the best seat in the house
Poor, with dirty clothes – stand, or sit at my feet
Making distinctions among themselves
And I get convicted when I read these stories,
esp. the one in James
– for how often are we guilty of the same thing?
Of making distinctions among people
& deciding who's good enough, who's not.
And we all do it, even we who call ourselves Christian,
who want to follow Jesus
– we fall down flat!
Story of Andy & homeless man at preaching conference last May
Gathering for worship, me in balcony,
Andy on floor, too crowded to get a seat, so leaning up against the back wall
Surrounded by 1000 clergy, religious types & in comes a homeless man.
Even I could see from way up in the balcony that he didn't fit in
Reeked of alcohol, raggedy clothes
And Andy, being Andy, welcomed him in
As worship continued, man started to cry
– not making a commotion, just overcome –
Traveling through w/ wife on their way to Michigan,
Attacked in park where they were trying to sleep
(in mid-May in MN, imagine that!)
Robbed, wife to hospital, man injured too
And as preacher began to preach,
Andy put his arm around the man,
sat down w/ him;
& "Security" - a member of the church (a Lutheran church!) -
came and said to Andy -
“Sir, we're gonna have to ask him to leave.”
(He didn't even speak to the man himself, as if he wasn't there!)
& I could see this happening.
I couldn't hear,
but I could guess,
and I was squirming,
b/c I don't like to make waves.
But Andy, defender of the underdog, said,
“He's with me. If anyone needs to hear the good news, he does.”
And I was so proud,
but I know that I probably wouldn't have done it.
I wouldn't have been able to cross that boundary
Because of my own discomfort,
my own uneasiness,
my uncertainty of what to do.
Because so many boundaries are there for a reason
& we want to keep ourselves safe -
It is hard to cross those boundaries.
But when we don't cross those boundaries,
We break God's heart!
But God uses our experiences and the people we meet
to speak to us.
God used the Syrophoenician woman to remind Jesus
that God's love is big enough to cross the boundaries people put up
Even a crumb would be enough for her
But God uses her to open Jesus' eyes
to see his mission in a new way
To see God's how broad and deep God's vision goes
God's vision for the world is
that all people will be saved,
that all people will be healed,
that all people will be welcomed.
And God uses the woman to open Jesus' eyes to that new vision,
to expand his boundaries to include even a Gentile woman from Tyre.
God used James to speak to the people of that church he wrote to too:
reminding them that God has chosen the poor,
that mercy triumphs over judgment.
And God speaks to us today in both of these readings
Saying to us as Jesus said to the man in the Decapolis
(also probably not a Jew, by the way):
“Be opened!”
Because while the boundaries we put up between us and other people
(“those” people
– the ones who aren't like us,
the ones who make us uncomfortable,
the ones who just don't fit)
Those boundaries may sometimes keep us safe,
but they also keep us separated.
They make us forget that God's love is for everyone!
God's love is for everyone!!
And God invites us into the miracle of that love,
the miracle of acceptance and healing and hope for everyone,
God invites us to be a part of God's vision
to save the whole world through Jesus:
by learning to love our neighbors as ourselves.
By welcoming others as we have been welcomed.
By being brave enough to move past the boundaries we put in place
To let God open our ears to these words
To let God open our eyes to see the people God loves
To let God open our mouths to share the truth
That God's love is for everyone
And to let God open our hearts to love
the way that God loves.
Be opened! And let Jesus set you free.
August 26 & 30 - Pentecost + 13
My week at Pinecrest
- Campers/staff/faculty
- Germs everywhere
- Camp Nurse – Purell
- Handwashing – but still came home w/ a cold
Other factors at work – not enough sleep, too much junk food, etc.
Washing my hands didn't take care of everything; doesn't prevent something that's inside of us from making us sick
That's what's at issue in our gospel
Mark 6 – Jesus feeding 5000, walking on water, healing everyone
Pharisees come along & all they see is that disciples don't wash their hands
Miss the miraculous things Jesus is doing (healing, feeding, teaching) & focus on minutia – the detail that they aren't following the religious rules
Handwashing here is not about hygiene, but about identity
– a way to say who you are
& the relationship you have w/ God
– people can look at that & know what/who you are (me & Jewish man in Costco – me w/ collar, him w/ yarmulke)
But in trying to protect relationship w/ God (theirs & others), they missed the bigger point
Thought they could legislate a relationship with God,
that by following all the rules it would keep their relationship w/ God healthy
But other factors at work
honor God w/ their lips, but their hearts are far from God
– washing your hands doesn't clean your heart
Following all the rules doesn't protect you from what's already inside that's making you sick!
Jesus reminds us that it's not what goes in that defiles us,
that keeps us separated from God & each other
– it's what comes out that does that!
It's what's already inside of us that's making us sick
It's from within, from the human heart that evil intentions come (vs. 21-23)
The sin that is within us, try as we may to keep our hands clean
No matter how good we look on the outside,
no matter how professional we are at following the rules (whatever we perceive them to be) – that sin is already there
And we can fool ourselves into thinking we've got it under control by washing our hands
– but it's there!
Washing our hands does not clean our hearts
& it's our hearts that keep us from being who God made us to be,
from having the relationship w/ God we were created to have
And that's where Jesus leaves it in the gospel
So I'm turning to our other reading, from James, who says this: vs. 18 & 21
18: In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth,
so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures
21: Therefore rid yourself of all sordidness & rank growth of wickedness,
and welcome with meekness the implanted word
that has the power to save your souls
Welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls!
The implanted word-
God has already given us this word, the word that gives us new birth, a new life
Not just the words written on the pages of this book (the Bible),
not just the word of the law
But the LIVING Word – Jesus!
The Word who was in the beginning,
the Word who was with God,
the Word who is God,
The Word who became flesh and lived among us!
This Word, this Jesus, lives within us;
this is the Word James invites us to welcome with meekness,
to receive him and all he has to offer
He is the word of Truth who sees into our hearts,
who sees all that is within us, the good, the bad, & the ugly,
who loves us too much to abandon us to the evil intentions of our hearts,
all of the things that keep us from loving God with all that we are
He has the power to save us from ourselves
He has set about the work of cleaning us up from the inside out,
of washing not only our hands, but our hearts
Transforming us, not with rules and rituals
but with his redeeming love.
Not with punishment for our imperfections
but with mercy.
Not with an accusing finger,
but the warm embrace of his forgiving grace.
We can't clean our hearts up on our own,
but Jesus can.
And he will give us not only clean hands, but a pure heart.
Offering Song –
Create in me a clean heart,O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
That's what Jesus does.
Welcome with meekness the Word already implanted within you,
let him create a clean heart in you,
let him clean you from the inside out.
Amen.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
August 12 & 16 - Pentecost + 11
Society is fascinated with the supernatural
Vampires – Twilight, Interview w/ the Vampire
Zombies – Night of the Living Dead, zombie walks,
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies
Fascination with the idea of a life that never ends
With the idea that we could experience
a million different things,
explore the world & live forever
Except that zombies & vampires are the undead –
they're not really alive
Their “lives” lack purpose, lack meaning
Zombies exist
only to feed on the next unfortunate person
who gets in their path
Vampires spend their lives
looking for their next victim, to drink their blood
The only objective they both have
is to feed, to stay alive
Zombies & vampires seems a weird place
to start a sermon,
but did you listen to the reading?
“the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh”
“unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
& drink his blood,
you have no life in you”
“my flesh is true food,
my blood is true drink.
Those who eat my flesh
& drink my blood
abide in me, & I in them...”
We read this at council on Tuesday –
& I was listening,
& all I could think was,
“Jesus is saying we need to be zombies or vampires!”
Eat my flesh, drink my blood
– no wonder the early Christians were accused of being cannibals!
No wonder the crowd listening got tripped up here
- “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”!!
But there are some connections
between the supernatural creatures
that fascinate so many people
and the way we live our lives
So much of the time,
we are living without a clear sense of purpose,
just going from one day, one task
to the next;
day after day of work
without really sensing the meaning of it all
Everybody Loves Raymond –
episode where Ali asks about babies,
but what she really wants to know
is not the mechanics,
but why God puts us here in the 1st place;
& all the adults freak out!
How to answer this question when they don't even know!
Don't know where you all are with this,
but The Purpose Driven Life was a popular book for a reason.
Maybe that sense of being direction-less comes
at times of transition
– a move, a job change, retirement;
when we wonder why we're here
& what we're supposed to be doing
Living life w/o really being alive;
consuming each thing that comes in our path
– material possessions,
one experience after another,
just plowing through
without valuing what we have or appreciating it
We're satisfied with junk food when Jesus wants to give us true food!
We're like zombies & vampires –
feeding on things that keep us alive but don't really give us life!
And into this situation comes Jesus,
who reminds us that he is true food & true drink.
He speaks over and over in this passage
& in the whole chapter, really,
about giving life:
I am the living bread – whoever eats it will live forever
Those who eat my flesh & drink my blood have eternal life
Whoever eats me will live because of me
The one who eats this bread will live forever
It is his very own life
that Jesus offers us in the meal we eat each week
Not only do we get to look forward
to eternal life after we die – eternal life starts now!
Jesus invites us to participate in the life he lives!
He gives us his life,
brimming over with passion and purpose and meaning!
Because when we eat this bread
& drink this wine,
when we take in the body & blood of Jesus,
we're taking in Jesus,
all that he is;
he becomes a part of us
in some way that we can't quite explain
And you know how when a zombie or a vampire attacks someone
– if they don't kill you,
they change you.
You become what they are.
Well, it works that way with Jesus,
only kind of in reverse.
When we eat Jesus,
we don't change him;
he changes us!
As the song goes,
“we become what we receive:
Christ's own body,
blessed & broken.
Cup o'erflowing,
life outpoured,
Given as a living token
of our world,
redeemed restored."
We eat the body of Christ,
and we become the body of Christ,
sent to bring the life he has given us into the world
So come, receive that body & blood of Christ;
After all,
you are what you eat!
August 5 (& 9) - Pentecost + 10
Elijah's had a tough couple of days
He's had a rough couple of years actually
He appears outta nowhere in chapter 17 –
a prophet of the LORD
sent to King Ahab,
who “did evil in the sight of the LORD more than all who were before him...”
which was saying something!
3 years ago, came to King Ahab,
declared that there would be a drought for 3 years
then off into hiding b/c Ahab was after him
then God tells, “Go, present yourself to Ahab!”
And off he goes for a showdown
with Ahab & Queen Jezebel & the prophets of Baal
450 prophets of Baal
& Elijah challenges them to a contest,
to see who is serving the real god.
He calls the whole country together,
all the people,
all the prophets,
the king & the queen
Calling down fire from heaven
to burn up the sacrifice of the bull
Baal prophets called from morning to noon on name of Baal
& nothing happened.
Elijah has them soak the wood,
the bull,
the altar,
even had them dig a trench around altar, filled w/ water.
Calls on God & fire of the LORD fell,
burned up the bull, the wood, the stones, the dust,
and even “licked up the water in the trench”!
With all the people behind him,
Elijah puts all the prophets of Baal to death by the sword
Jezebel swears her revenge,
promises to kill Elijah
– and so he fled for his life, into the wilderness
Out there in the wilderness, Elijah decides he's had enough
he's stressed out, burned out, worn out
he's ready to hang it up, ready to give up:
“now, O LORD, take away my life.”
“It is enough”
It is enough!
Ever felt that way?
“That's it, God, I've had it! I can't keep going this way!”
Been stressed out, burned out, worn out?
Burdens of life leave you feeling like you're in it alone?
Like you are the only one?
Like life with all its struggles and stresses,
pain & confrontations is too much?
Like you keep on trying to stand up,
and the world keeps knocking you down?
Why me, God? Enough already!
Maybe not to the point of asking God to take away your life,
but at least to the point of wanting to run away from it all,
to flee out into the wilderness,
away from all the things that hurt, or burden, or distress you?
Poor Elijah –
there he is,
sitting out there in the wilderness under the only tree around,
so worn out that he could die -
I love the wilderness stories.
God always shows up there out in the wilderness.
Elijah takes a much-needed nap,
and suddenly an angel touches him –
“Get up & eat”
And there's a meal,
a cake baked on hot stones,
a jar of water in this land where there's been a drought
And Elijah eats & drinks
– how refreshing –
and then it's back to sleep.
And the angel comes again to say,
“Get up & eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”
Out there in the wilderness,
God finds Elijah,
and God feeds him
Elijah has been feeling that it's all just too much,
but then God comes and refreshes him;
God sends an angel to meet him, to feed him
God sends what Elijah needs to keep on keepin' on,
to go ahead to the place
where God will speak in the silence,
before going back into the world
to do the work God will send him yet to do
There are those days when we may want,
like Elijah,
to run away,
to escape from the stress of life,
from the busyness,
to run away into the wilderness,
away from it all
and we may not be able to do it.
We can't escape from life & its demands
but God meets us anyway,
in the wilderness
of our hectic, burned out, stressed out, worn out lives.
And there, God feeds us too -
God sends, not angels, but Jesus:
Jesus, the bread of life,
Jesus, the living bread from heaven
who comes to us in the wilderness places of our lives,
the times when we have had enough
& are wondering if we can go on.
Jesus comes to us
in those times of stress and struggle and strain,
and he touches us,
and he gently says, “Get up & eat.”
I am the bread of life
& I will feed you with myself.
I am living bread that came down from heaven.
Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.
The bread that I will give is my own flesh.
I will give myself to feed you
I will give myself to heal you
I will give myself to strengthen you
Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.
Get up and eat, and Jesus, the bread of life, will give you strength for the journey.
July 29 & Aug. 2 - Pentecost + 9
If the Israelites in Exodus story
& the crowd following Jesus in John had a theme song,
it'd be Rolling Stones – Satisfaction
as in,
“I can't get no...”
Israelites – slaves who have been set free;
1.5 months into their journey
Already have seen God do miraculous things
led them out of Egypt w/o a battle -
walked through the Red Sea on dry land
once in wilderness, bitter water made sweet so they could drink it
led to an oasis with springs of water & palm trees
And yet they complain –
Remember how we ate our fill in Egypt?
Remember how good it was back then?
You brought us out here to starve!
People in John too,
crowd that's been following Jesus around
Have seen Jesus do “signs” for the sick
Just ate their fill out in the wilderness
from the meager offering of 5 loaves & 2 fish –
got all that they wanted
Despite the amazing things they have seen & experienced,
they want more!
Don't trust that what they have will last either
Israelites don't believe
that God will continue to provide manna,
so try to hoard more than they need
Jesus' followers say,
“Give us this bread always” -
we don't want to have to keep coming back for it
They can't get no satisfaction..
We can't get no satisfaction either –
and we've tried,
and we've tried,
and we've tried,
and we've tried -
We wander through our lives, always looking for more
Like when you get a craving for something,
but don't know what you want
Our lives are like that...
Always on the lookout for that next
latest & greatest thing that will fill us up,
physically, emotionally, spiritually
Have so much stuff
We rent storage buildings
Every year our stage gets filled
by people cleaning out their houses
(& every year, they find they have more to get rid of!)
A friend on Facebook – going through 25 years worth of stuff saved
We're looking for satisfaction,
for the security that we think stuff provides!
But at the end of the day, it really doesn't satisfy;
Jesus comes & says,
you're looking for the wrong things
You're coming after me b/c I fed you bread,
but you missed the point
None of this food will last –
the bread & the fish will be eaten or rot
The Israelites couldn't hold on to the extra manna
But there is a food that will last for eternal life
And the Son of Man will give it to you –
free of charge!
Just as God gave food to the Israelites in the wilderness
every day for 40 years!
Without fail, God provided the food and the water
that they needed to survive
God never stops providing the people what they need
That's why God gives Jesus,
the true bread who comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world!
Jesus is the bread of life
Bread, the most basic, staple food,
every culture has it in some form
Represents what is most essential for life
We hunger & thirst after so much that doesn't satisfy,
but Jesus says,
“Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
He is the most basic & essential thing we need.
When we come to him, & follow him, he changes us.
We start to look for satisfaction in different ways,
through different things
Don't need to find our security through hoarding things,
working for the food that will perish,
but find ourselves free to share,
trusting that God will provide for our need,
though not for our greed
Jesus gives himself to us as the bread of life,
bread that gives life to the world
We feast on this bread of life and are filled
(Perhaps we could say,
"Packed with Jesus,
communion really satisfies!")
We are fed
so that we may join Christ's miracle of feeding
- sharing our food so all may be fed
Come eat the bread of life, drink the cup of salvation
And then join in feeding those who still hunger & thirst in so many ways
Amen.
July 22 & 26 - Pentecost + 8
Andy & I are Costco members
When they hand out free samples, people line up like vultures
God help you if there are 2 at opposite sides of same aisle – you'll never get through!
Saw the same thing last summer
Southwest Airlines flight – no assigned seats; people push & shove to be near front, even though you know you've got a seat
Our instinct is to rush to the front
in case they might run out; to make sure you get in on the deal, etc.
Fear that there won't be enough of whatever it is
Whole economy is based on that underlying concern
supply & demand – when demand goes up or supply goes down, price goes up
Worry about food, money, jobs, homes
Worry that there isn't enough to go around
resources are scarce, so we hoard what we have, cling to it, try to get more, to stockpile for the future
See this same belief that there isn't enough from Philip & Andrew in the gospel
Jesus sees large crowd coming & asks Philip –
"where are we gonna get the bread to feed all these people?"
Philip says, "We'll never have enough money – 6 months worth of paychecks wouldn't buy them an appetizer!"
Andrew chimes in – "there's this kid who has 5 loaves of bread & a couple fish – but what's that gonna do? You see this crowd! This little bit of food wouldn't even feed our group, let alone 5000+ people!""
And yet Jesus says, "Tell the people to have a seat"
Jesus takes that little bit of food,
and he blesses and breaks it, the bread & the fish,
and starts passing it out to everybody sitting around
Can you imagine that scene as people start to realize that there's free food being handed out?
Having seen how people are at the Costco, perhaps the fact that they all stay seated & trust that there will be enough is the real miracle!
And get this – they get as much as they want!
Not a crumb & a bite of fish –
they get to take as much as they want!
And when they were satisfied, Jesus sends the disciples out through the crowd to clean up the leftovers (pack it in, pack it out, good hikers!)
And there are 12 baskets left! Not only was there enough, there was more than enough!
Way more than enough
An abundance!
Because in Jesus' hands, what seems like too little is always more than enough!
True of our lives too
We worry so much about ourselves, how we'll pay the bills, if we'll have enough for retirement, etc.
Yet God always provides abundantly
Usually much more than we need (think of it – there's an obesity “epidemic” in our country...)
The trick is learning to recognize when we've had enough to be satisfied
At Costco, I've never once seen them run out -
And how much more so is that true of God, of Jesus,
who teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”
and then gives himself away to us as the bread of life
who feeds us in this meal,
giving just a little sip of wine and a bite of bread
And this meal, as little as it may seem, is always enough
And then sends us forth, satisfied, to share this meal with the world
And there is always more than enough to share,
because with Jesus,
there is always more than enough
Thanks be to God!
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)