Sermon for March 27th (Easter)

The reading

Mark 16:1-8

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

The message

In many ways,  our reading today feels incomplete or inadequate. According to most scholars, that is the earliest recorded report of Easter.  The bible verses we just heard are often called the original ending to Mark’s Gospel since this is where the book ends in the oldest manuscripts we have available.  Throughout history, people have always been left uncomfortable with it, asking “is that all”. Mark’s Gospel, the story of God’s love as revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ ends right there with a group of faithful, amazed and terrified women who say nothing to anyone. Over some years, addition verses based on oral traditions and other reports of Jesus resurrection were added to the end of the book, to explain what happened after this moment of joy and fear.  Some people suggest that this abrupt, sudden and unsatisfying ending was intentional, a reminder to the audience hearing the book that they are part of the story and need to complete the story by going and telling the others. 

That is what I want to talk about this morning, how we complete Mark’s Gospel. This is not easy work. There are some big challenges. The first challenge is that Easter did not happen in isolation from the rest of the story, no one was ever intended to just hear Mark 16:1-8 and then believe and accept these things.  The whole book of Mark was supposed to be read together in a community of faith where people welcomed, helped, studied, loved, provided for and cared for each other.     

 

We have been immersed in the story for a while now. In September of last year, we changed our Sunday bible readings.  We now follow a list called the narrative lectionary.  For 4 months, from September to December, we went through the Old Testament leading up to Christmas, when Christ our Savior was born. Immediately after that, we spent 3 months, from January to today, going through Mark’s Gospel leading up to Easter, when Christ our savior is Risen.  People here every week or following online have had 7 months to get ready for this Easter story. As I planned what to say this morning, I knew that not everyone here for church had the advantage of 7 months to prepare for Easter. 

This is not just about being lost or bored at worship when you do not know what is going on. A little Christianity can be very dangerous. We need to tell the story. If we do not, other people will and what they say is often terrible. Without the whole story our faith can be easily manipulated and twisted into all sorts of inhumane ideas and false promises. (If you want to see this happen live, just watch our presidential debates).  Without recognizing the brokenness of the world and our need for God to save us, the church becomes little more than a sort of place where we tell each other “your okay, im okay, everything’s great”.  Without hearing Jesus radical message of welcome again and again, without spending week after week hearing Jesus heal the powerful and poor or stopping to help anyone in need, church becomes little more than an exclusive club where people feel just fine leaving lots of others out.  Without having the cross at the center of our faith, without seeing God’s presence in suffering, the church becomes little more than some magical place built on fake promises that is you believe well enough you will be rewarded greatly.  

The solution for this challenge of sharing comfort and joy with people who do not know the whole story involves working together.  The story of God’s love is not a secret revealed to a select few. It is accessible, available and should be part of our daily lives.  There needs to be individual commitments to learning, to welcoming, to teaching with patience, to showing up, to find the words and courage to share the joy that is in us, to pray and to care for others.     

The other challenge to completing Mark’s Gospel is similar. I know a lot of people can go to church and have no idea what we are talking about.  That is the fault of many religious leaders, people like me who assume others understand the traditions, phrases and background, so we never bother to explain them.  The truth is we do have our own language, at church, we speak Easter. For the next few minutes, we are going to have a short ESL or Easter as a second language class.   

Easter is a language whose origin is in trying to express the shocking, to give words to the unimaginable. It is not comfortable to speak.  At the end of Mark’s Gospel, no one speaks it. The bravest, most faithful and dedicated of Jesus followers, the women who walk up to the empty tomb, are so filled with terror and amazement, they do not speak it. The only moment in my life I can think of anything like it is when my father passed away.  He died about 20 years ago during a March night.  I woke up the next morning for an early day of school and saw him on the couch.  I tried to wake him a few times. He was still and cold. At that point, it should have been obvious, even to a 15 year old, that he was gone. I said a prayer, paced around a little and tried to wake him again a few minutes later and again a few minutes after that.  At that point I had to tell someone so I paced around a little more and then woke my mom up, telling her “dad was still asleep and I couldn’t wake him up’.  That was the scary part, after that it would be seen and verified, I couldn’t pretend I was dreaming or he was just sleeping.           

These first women at the tomb go through that same experience when Jesus died and now again this morning, when the tomb is empty.   After a few hours, they start mentioning what they saw and heard to Jesus very closest friends. Now, with these first whispers of the resurrection, the women’s terror and amazement would be verified. Others would go to the empty tomb, they would see things as the women said, they would encounter and experience the risen Christ. The world would see that not even death could separate us from God’s love. This meant all those things Jesus taught were true and they would have to do something, teach, help, heal and tell the others.

The most important vocabulary words in the language of Easter include “Christ is risen from the dead”, God’s promises are good, true and will be fulfilled, God’s love includes all people,  our sins are forgiven by God’s grace,  we are actively love God and neighbor, God is really here in the world, walking with us in, celebrating in joy and accompanying in suffering.  

The solution to the challenge that we speak our own language here at church, that others may or may not know, is that we need to use it more.  We can speak Easter to those who mourn by sharing God’s promise of eternal life. We can speak Easter to Racism and other forms of exclusion by telling people that God loves everyone, acting like we mean it and recognizing when we don’t. We can speak Easter to poverty, economic injustice and unfair practices by doing things to help and insisting our leaders do too. We can speak Easter to violence by proclaiming God’s peace and demanding people find other solutions.  We can speak Easter to those who are anxious with prayer and trust in God.   Many of you might think this is too confrontational, or that it is not our place to say anything, that faith and world are somehow rightly separated. You know what, If we are quiet, others will speak and it won’t be words of forgiveness, care and welcome. 

I invite all of you to try it, to speak Easter. I do not mean just saying happy Easter, like its some random happy birthday to an almost stranger or have a good weekend to co-workers, let people know “Christ is Risen from the dead”.   Put something up on facebook (for those who are too cool for that, go to instagram, twitter, or whatever your preferred social media is). Let your friends or followers know, Christ is risen from the dead. This year, perhaps more than any other, think about God’s saving love for all people before you make your vote.  Do something to help others and if someone asks you why, let them know it’s because “Christ is Risen from the dead”.  Talk with someone about the joys, comforts and struggles of faith because “Christ is Risen from the dead”, Keep this church, community, and school in your life and prayers, we need your help to speak Easter, to let people know “Christ is Risen from the dead”.  

Sermon for March 25th (Good Friday)

The reading 

Mark 15:16-39

Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take

.

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘Listen, he is calling for Elijah.’ And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’ Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’

The Message

Like Palm Sunday a few days ago and Holy Thursday yesterday, this is the first time I have prepared a sermon for Good Friday. Over my past 7 years here, I have shared a brief reflection, if that, during our services today.  I held the belief that the readings, songs and rituals shared today speak for themselves. I still think that is true, but I wanted to say more.   We could all use a little help understanding and getting through today. The best way to do that is locating this cross with Jesus on it in the story of God’s love. 

  

Personally, I am used to Jesus on the cross. Right outside the Roman Catholic Church I grew up in, there was Jesus on the cross, at least 20 feet high, with a spotlight on it, a kneeler in front, flowers and candles left in worship and memory of loved ones and visible from blocks away.  I remember being in High School and I would wear a gold cross with Jesus on it that my uncle gave me as a confirmation gifts a few years earlier. One day, another student, who seemed particularly hostile towards Christianity, randomly asked me “why are you wearing that, it’s pretty much a tool of ancient torture and murder, whats wrong with you”.  I responded “it is also the way of our salvation, the means God used to save us from death”.  We had a few more sentences back and forth and he left saying “you gave me something to think about”. I wish I could say after our conversation, the person started to come to church with me, that my beautiful words about the odd weakness and mystery at the center of our faith, the way God can use all things for good and the depth of God’s love for us saved a soul but honestly I have no idea. I do not even remember who it was let alone what happened to them.  I guess this experience stuck with me because it seemed like I was doing what Peter writes in his first letter:  “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”    

Many others are not so used to Jesus on the cross though. A few times a year I have problems trying to explain the cross with Jesus on it that sits at the heart of this reading and literally at the center of our church (for readers: there is a cross with Jesus on it in the center of our church above the altar) The first time we have children’s church with the students at our Rainbow Christian Preschool up here, at least one of the children always asks “who is that”.  I say something like it’s a picture of Jesus to remember him and remind us how special he is.  That is not the challenging part. The real hard part comes next: “why is he hanging there”, what is happening to him”.  I have no great way to explain crucifixion, death and resurrection to a 4 year old.  Sometimes I will start to stumble through an answer and get relief when one of the teachers says something or 5 other children interrupt with other, easier questions.  When we talk about Good Friday, I say, some very bad things happened to Jesus and all his friends did not think they would ever see him again.

It is not only young children who have problems understanding why this cross with Jesus on it is in our church.  Now and then I will talk to members from some of the churches that share our space with us. For many of them, Jesus on the cross is a strange thing to focus on.  The discomfort with Jesus on the cross comes from the idea that we worship the risen Christ, the all powerful one, the one who triumphed over sin and death, the one who was removed from that cross, buried, rose again and ascended into heaven.  Many protestant and non-denominational churches, if they have a cross at all in their worship space, it’s empty.  After all, we praise a risen, triumphant Christ, not a suffering Christ and certainly not a dying Christ. 

Many people, of faith or not, wonder why we lift up the cross so much.  This is best summarized by a question someone in the community asked me last year: “why do we call the day Jesus died Good Friday. After all, this is Jesus, who  healed the sick, calmed the storm, fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger, cast out evil, taught us to pray, announced God’s love, welcomed the stranger, included the outcast and promised  God would save us from sin.   “What’s so good about his death?

I actually had no idea where the term Good Friday came from, so I looked into it.  There are some possibilities and suggestions based on language use, translations or different meanings of words. Our faith answers that question about Good Friday’s name with joy and certainty. On Sunday, I am going to say that Easter is the most important day in our faith, but there is no Easter without Good Friday.  There cannot be resurrection without death. We cannot be saved from sin without knowing it’s there.  God’s love is not revealed to the powerful through the powerful, It is revealed to all through the cross. The day of Jesus’ death is called Good because through his death, all of us have new life.  Because of today, sin can no longer separate us from God and death no longer has any power over us. To be honest a church with no cross in it can be just a social club, the pastors and leaders of such a place can be little more than motivational speakers or self help teachers.  Faith with no cross in it can become just a way to get what we want, justify greed as a reward or an excuse to keep things the way they are. Christianity without a cross can be easily manipulated to justify anything.   

To believe the soilder’s proclamation, “Truly this man was God’s son” is to believe in the true power of God’s grace, to call this day good is to understand “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him, would not perish but have eternal life”      

Sermon for Thursday, March 24 (Holy Thursday)

The Reading

Mark 14:22-42 

 While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.”  Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it.  He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.  Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  And Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters; for it is written,

‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”  Peter said to him, “Even though all become deserters, I will not.”  Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.”  But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.

They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated.  And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.”  And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.  He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.”  He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour?  Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him.  He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”

The message

Like Palm Sunday a few days ago, this is the first time I am preaching on Holy Thursday.  In terms of content and ritual, I often feel like tonight is one of the most complicated church services of the year.  We are now in the middle of the bible’s most challenging, emotional, anxious and confusing events.  We perform rituals tonight like the stripping of the altar, the individual announcement that your sins are forgiven and a different communion meal, which are only done once a year. We are a few hours away from Jesus death. We hear of Jesus betrayal by Judas, we see his closest followers fall asleep instead of pray and we know after this, there will be a horrific and violent march to the cross.  Tonight is not exactly about reenacting Jesus final hours, our focus is more on what rituals and laws Jesus introduced, taught and set as an example to his followers.   

In his last hours, Jesus is trying to prepare his followers for the immediate future, for life after his death, resurrection and ascension.  Over Jesus 3 years or so of public ministry, Jesus followers could instantly turn to him for help.  If they misunderstood something, they could ask him further questions, if they had problems healing someone or casting out a particular demon, they knew Jesus could say “back up, I got this”  and take care of it , if they were confronted by someone with questions they could not answer, Jesus would know the answers and respond with love and wisdom. Now, as Jesus followers start to understand, he will no longer be with them, they wonder “who will help us”. 

Tomorrow on Good Friday, we will see Jesus turn to the words of Psalm 22, crying out “my God my God, why have you forsaken me” with his last breathe. It seems like an odd thing for Jesus to say but keep in mind Psalm 22 goes on to describe a relationship with God centered on joy, trust, comfort and promises which endure all things. As a whole, Psalm 22 is a proclamation that God will never abandon us, no matter what.  To help understand tonight, we turn to another psalm, this time,124:  Our help is in the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  

Now, this help will come in a few different ways.  The most important is the Holy Spirit, the presence of God in the world.  Now, the other 3 Gospel’s are very clear about this.  Jesus promises that once he leaves, the Holy Spirit will come. (in John, Jesus even goes as far as to say “it’s a good thing im leaving after my work is completed, you will actually be better off with the Holy Spirit ”)  Our need for the Holy Spirit is so urgent, post resurrection, Jesus instructs his followers to do nothing, to wait for the Holy Spirit before they start preaching, teaching, healing and helping.  Mark does mention the Holy Spirit’s help in the post resurrection and ascension world.  In chapter 13, Jesus advises:  “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit”

Our help also comes in other ways as well. I will look at two:  Rituals and a community that cares for each other.  In his final hours, Jesus introduces and affirms rituals and spiritual practices.  Jesus models the power of honest prayer to communicate with a listening God. It is a source of comfort and strength.  Jesus reminds us of the power in lifting our voices together, the ability of music, hymns and songs to praise, worship, encourage, express and unite a community. Jesus introduces Holy Communion and promises to be present in and with the bread and wine. These elements were the two most common and available part of meals at the time.  Everyone would have bread and wine.  This was meant for everyone.

While not in our reading tonight, we cannot talk about Holy Thursday without a mention of footwashing (a story found only in John’s Gospel, which we will read right before the offering).   This is at the heart of being a community that cares for each other, that see one another as human, feeling and in need.  In Jesus time, footwashing was an ordinary part of life, a sign of welcome and hospitality left to the lowest servant.  If Jesus, the savior and teacher washes the feet of his followers, there is nothing we should hesitate to do for each other. With this simple act, we are taught to be a community of care without limits.   We represent God in the world, our way of life, welcome, acceptance, words and actions should all point to a loving God, in other words, we have to love and care for the person no one else does.    

The other significant part of being a community of care asks us to forgive, love and accept.  We see this in what Jesus says and does not say. He openly tells his followers, “you will all betray me” and “you will deny me”, he does not say “this failure will be punished” or “because you left me I will leave you”.  None of their actions, the denial or the abandonment can separate them from the love of God. These things are forgiven (and corrected, the disciples do publically confess their faith despite persecution, they do wake up and stay awake). They fall asleep on Jesus and become the founders and great saints of the church, the ones so many of our communities are named after.

Tonight, as we worship, we are reminded of the gifts and tools God gives us to be church.  We have the Holy Spirit with us, the joy of ancient rituals to bring comfort and assurance, and the examples of service, faithful living, forgiveness, welcome and acceptance.  We have everything we need, we just have to use it.

Sermon for Palm Sunday (March 20, 2016)

The reading

Mark 11:1-11

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” ’ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

‘Hosanna!

   Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

   Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve

The Message 

This is the first time I am preaching a sermon on Palm Sunday.  Over the past 7 years, we have always read the passion story from one of the four Gospels. The passion story covers the two or three chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John that report what happened during Jesus last days before his death.  They include Jesus entry into Jerusalem, the first communion meal, the betrayal by Judas, the trials before various authorities, the questioning and humiliation, the conviction as a subversive, the abandonment by his followers, the march to the place of execution and the dying on a cross.  It feels strange to not read the passion story on Palm Sunday so I invite you all you to do that (not right now).  Take some time today and spend 15 or 20 minutes with some of the most violent and emotional moments in the bible.  The reading this year is Mark chapters 14- 15.    

I decided to do something different this morning for two reasons.  First, we will read those stories during our Holy Thursday and Good Friday services. Second, we have spent the last 3 months or so reading through Mark’s Gospel and it is important to look at where Palm Sunday fits into the greater story of God’s love for us.  

Palm Sunday is the culmination of Jesus public ministry. His words and actions were widely spoken about and had inspired countless people.  He brought hope to the hopeless and new life to the forgotten.  During his entry into Jerusalem, Jesus is being declared a king.  In many Ancient Near East cultures, kings were welcomed by covering the road with palm leaves, branches, or clothing. It served as a symbol of respect and honor. There is another important symbol in the story that is not obvious at first.   In ancient traditions a king would arrive on a horse as a sign of the intent for war or conflict and on a donkey or colt as a sign that they came in peace and seeking relationship.  With the selection of a colt, Jesus is telling the crowds, God is here in peace, there would be no violent revolt or overthrow of the authorities.  

Jesus arrival at Jerusalem was a powerful moment of joy and excitement. The people there on the road were disappointed and oppressed.  They knew the religious authorities would not help them and they knew the government officials would help them.   At the same time, the people who welcome Jesus and proclaim him to be a king knew all about him. They knew he would help them.  Again, all the stories about Jesus words and actions had spread. People knew he healed the sick, enabled the paralyzed to walk, restored sight to the blind, feed thousands with a little bit of food and calmed powerful storms on the open sea with a few words. There were even rumors that he raised the dead.  

People knew the signs of faith and power that Jesus performed. They also knew about his preaching and teaching with authority, his words that spoke of God’s love and law in new, powerful, inclusive and exciting ways.  Perhaps the most exciting news they heard about Jesus was that he helped everyone. Jesus helped the powerful and the poor, the daughter of a beloved synagogue leader and the blind beggar.  Jesus sat with the priests, the hated tax collector, the sick, the unclean, the disregarded woman and the ignored other.  Even the people who interrupt or disturb Jesus would be helped.  Jesus blessed the children crying and fidgeting in the middle of a sermon, stopped to heal the sick who cried out to him when he was racing to somewhere else and welcomed the 4 friends who destroyed the roof of a house to get near him. Jesus was not picking and choosing who to heal based on what they could do for him. He was celebrating faith wherever it was found.  Jesus was teaching the world that God cares for all people by caring for all people.   People forget all of this hope, excitement and joy almost immediately after Palm Sunday.  Over the next few days, the same group who knew Jesus would help them, the same people who welcomed him as king, would all turn on him, walk away or shout for his death in the streets.    

Jesus relationship with the religious authorities was never good, but after Palm Sunday, conflict escalates quickly. The religious authorities were truly scared by the Jesus of Palm Sunday and wanted to get rid of him.  None of them ever received a similar welcome or could even stage one like it. They also knew the Roman authorities would find out about an event of this size and that would bring unwanted attention. (Rome did not like having other kings around).   The next day, Jesus is in the temple teaching and he tells a parable directly condemning the religious authorities for failing to share God’s love or live out God’s law.  In response, they go after him with a series of well-conceived and aggressive questions meant to expose him as a fraud or traitor. They ask the question of taxes, what is the greatest commandment, and what about life in the resurrection. Jesus answers each one with great wisdom and love.  

After this, the religious authorities take a different route and start convincing the Roman Empire to execute Jesus.  At the same exact time, Jesus is preparing his followers to become the church, his presence and voice in the world after he is executed, risen and ascended.  Jesus reminds his followers of the power in prayer, God’s promise to be with us always, the joy of following God’s law and the need for us to help one another.  These events will fill our worship over the next week. 

For today, we are invited to sit with only this story, of welcome, acceptance and public faith.  A friend once joked that Palm Sunday is the only day all year when you actually get something for going to church (at least I assume he was joking).  There is something special about today though.  It is one of the few days all year that we go outside together, that we bring out faith out in public. With our brief parade, we announce that God is here to the community we are entrusted to speak God’s grace in.  I look forward to doing that with you more often. 

Sermon for March 13

Mark 13: 1-8, 24-37

As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”  Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,  “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?”  Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray.  Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs

 “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened,

    and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will be falling from heaven,

    and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.  Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.  So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.  Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn,  or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.  And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

Sunday, March 13

Today’s reading is at the end of Mark’s Gospel.  Immediately after this text, we start the passion part of Mark’s Gospel, which tells the story of Jesus last hours, his faithful anointing for burial by Mary, the first communion meal, his betrayal, trial, conviction as political subversive and execution.  To help everyone get situated with the reading, this conversation takes place in the chaotic days after Palm Sunday. Jesus was already in Jerusalem and was already welcomed and honored as a king.  Immediately after Palm Sunday Jesus finds himself in the temple and engaged in a nasty confrontation with the religious authorities. The leaders questioned and tried to expose Jesus as a fraud.  Jesus will not tolerate anyone trying to use God’s word for their own profit or standing in the way of others experiencing the comfort and joy of God’s love.  Jesus humiliates them, calling them out on their wealth, abuse of the people and neglect of their promises. It starts with Jesus telling the parable of the wicked tenants, which blatantly tells the crowd two things: 1: the religious leaders entrusted with sharing the faith and caring for the people of God have failed to do so 2: the kingdom will be taken away from them.  After this the leaders try to trick and trap Jesus with different questions.  Jesus answers every one of their well-conceived questions with great wisdom and deep faith.  For instance, they ask “should we pay taxes to Rome”, Jesus responds by saying “give to the emperor the things that are the emperors and to God the things that are God’s (basically telling them to keep the promises they made with Rome and with God).  This is when the religious authorities realize that they definitely need to get rid of Jesus to protect their power and status.  

After this hostile encounter, Jesus and his disciples leave. After all, they have other work to do, Jesus needs to prepare them and all his followers for what’s next.  On the way out Jesus disciples observe “look teacher, what large stones and what large buildings”.  I get a sense that this simple observation is really much more.  They are asking Jesus, how can you confront the people who built all this, who are in power, who are in charge of this overwhelming and amazing city, which also happens to be the central place of our Jewish faith, how can you talk to them like that, aren’t you worried, arent’t you concerned about what they will do to you.  Jesus responds “these great buildings will all be thrown down”. 

Four of Jesus disciples, knowledgeable of the scriptures, have actually heard that one before.  In the prophets and other scriptures, especially Ezekiel and Daniel, there are visions of widespread destruction, the day of the Lord, the apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it.  Here, nothing is spared, not even the institutions of religious faith.  Jesus disciples make the connection and privately ask him “when will these things be”. 

Jesus responds with a vision of suffering and struggle. Jesus tells them that no one, not even Jesus himself, knows when this will be.  He also tells them to “stay awake”, to remain faithful, to trust God and know whatever happens, no matter how bad, God’s promises are still good, God’s love is still real and all things will be restored to how they should be (not how they were).         

Today, people all react a little differently to this.  Some people hear today’s reading, completely ignore Jesus statement “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.” Instead of accepting that, keeping faithful and trusting God, they let us know when these things will be. The process of calculating the exact time when these things will be is pretty simple. All you need to do is take a few biblical texts, disconnect them from the story God’s love, manipulate or twist them around, pick a few current events, do some sort of strange math or other analysis to make it look scientific, find a date, make great claims about secret knowledge and then do whatever you can to spread the discover. These predictions have been done countless times and have always been wrong. Many of them were significant, stopping normal life, shaping people’s worldviews and causing them to make very bad decisions.  Even today, in our modern, questioning world, we had the end of the Mayan Calendar, the year 2000 and May 21 all gathering way more attention than they deserved. 

Some people hear today’s reading and really look forward to it. The language around the end times is harsh, violent, and brutal.  There are warning, judgment and what appears to be inescapable suffering.  There are earthquakes, terrible darkness, famines, the destruction of everything we have built, trust in and think is great or indestructible. The problem is with the end times, more than any other place, it is when we pretend to be God, are left to decide who is good and evil, who are the elect, who will be spared or destroyed.  There are people who think they will be sitting and relaxing on clouds with the angels, sipping cool, refreshing iced tea while they watch the unfaithful (who just happen to be the people they disagree with or dislike) get destroyed in terrible ways.

Some people hear today’s reading and see dollar signs. Many people have a real fascination, concern, obsession, fear or anxiety about the end of the world and that is an economic opportunity.  The end has become a multi-billion dollar industry producing tv shows, movies, books, doomsday supplies and ministries.

We are now a few days away from the most emotional, intense, terrifying and amazing part of our faith.  Before we get there, we need to deal with today’s reading and the 10 or 12 just like it in the Gospels.  If Jesus only talked about the end times once or twice, if there was only a sentence or two about a very violent completion of the world, we could ignore it or dismiss it as not important.  These stories about the end times are not limited to one book of the bible, they are not only mentioned once or twice.  These warnings about the end show up in the Old testament in books like the prophet Daniel and Ezekiel, in all 4 of the Gospels, in parts of Paul’s letters (in some cases it even seems like Paul believed Jesus return was eminent, expected within a few months or years) and perhaps best known, the book of Revelation.  

We need to keep in mind these stories are prophetic visions, filled with imagery and symbolism, not predictions of what exactly will happen.  Their role is to warn us of how far from God’s vision, hope and expectations for the world we are.  We are invited to trust God above all things. After all the end times are something that only God can save us from.  They are a reminder of what we all know, that the world often seems like a place of greed and evil but ultimately good will prevail, evil will not leave quietly but love will conquer all, Christ will be victorious,  welcome, forgiveness and care will triumph. Those are the lessons that Jesus wants his followers to understand about the end times.