Sunday, March 27, 2016

"Not Quite Done" John 20: 1-18; I Corinthians 15: 12-26

Not sure what to make of the sermon.  Maybe it was too serious?  It felt a bit heavy.  Of course, I felt a bit heavy (not my weight) preaching about resurrection a few days after my sister's death.  Resurrection is good news in the face of death, but it also means there has been a death.

Christ is risen.  He is risen, indeed!

(John 20:1-18) Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (NRSV)

Looking Toward Easter” February 14, 2016; FPC, Troy I Corinthians 15: 12-26; John 20: 1-18

Introduction: When last we left Jesus, we were gathered here in the shadows of the sanctuary at our service of darkness, and we heard Jesus say, “it is finished,” as his spirit left him hanging there on the cross.

Dead.

We learned in our Lenten small groups that the Greek phrase, “it is finished” has the connotation of victory. That is, the task is done and the mission is accomplished (Adam Hamilton, John: the Gospel of Light and Life, 136)

I suspect that as Jesus' family and friends watched him hanging on the cross, they did not feel that sense of victory or accomplishment.

Jesus was dead, and their hopes and dreams had died with him.

As Mary Magdalene walks to the tomb that first Easter morning, weariness and heaviness weigh her down.

It is finished, except for the final preparations of the body.

Maybe you know that feeling.

You have just received news that a loved one has died;

Or you have lost your job and do not know what to do next;

Or you know that the the way your life is going has to stop, but you don't know what to do.

Your read the news of death and discord in our world and you feel helpless and hopeless.

The world closes in on you.

There seem to be no options.

In that moment it feels as if life has ended.

You are with Mary Magdalene on the way to the tomb.

Then Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb.

The stone has been moved.

She races away before even looking in to see what is in the tomb.

She does not yet know what has happened, but she is beginning to wonder if it really finished.

Even if it is simply someone has stolen the body (could she dare to hope that Christ was raised from the dead?), there will be more of the story to play out.

She finds Peter and the beloved disciple and tells them about the stone.

They run back to the tomb and go in and discover that there is no body.

Off they go. Maybe there is more to the story yet to be told.

Mary sees someone she thinks is the gardener.

'What have they done with the body.”

The gardener person calls her by name, “Mary.”

At the sound of his calling her by name, she knows: She knows that it is Jesus, who has now been resurrected.

She knows that 'it is finished” has not become “God is not quite done.”

Move 1: her name is not important, although some of you old-timers will know it.

She already had been battling cancer for several years before I arrived here as to serve this church.

She and her husband had my family over for dinner the first night when we moved to Troy. We sat on the picnic table in their backyard. She told us, “Well, everyone else has been making me meals lately, so I thought I would make you a meal.”

I saw her a lot those first few years. She and her husband traveled quite a bit, but when they were home, she was in and out of the church and in worship on Sunday mornings..

Most of the time when I saw her, it was during the week here at church or maybe at her house. Her general rule in dealing with her bald head was to just go bald, or wear a do rag that covered her baldness. When she would show up at church, however, she would wear a wig. I seldom saw her that way, so it always took me a minute or two to recognize her sitting in the pews.

Almost three years into my time here, the end of her life was drawing near.

Easter arrived. As I stood here preaching the Easter sermon, I looked out and saw her. She was pretty weak by this time, but she sat there with her wig on and a smile across her face.

I was pretty sure it would be her last Easter service, and I even wondered if it would be her last worship service (which it was).
As I told the story of the resurrection with her sitting in the pews, I realized that it was not a story to her; it was not a debate over what resurrection was; it was the hope she clung to as death was knocking at her door.

She knew the truth of Paul's words, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.”

Her hope was not in vain.

a. Thomas Lynch, the Undertaking: the idea of eternal life or the afterlife “begins to make the most sense after life – when someone we love is dead...”

1. he notes that when you're sitting in a hot tub enjoying the evening, you need resurrection like you need another belly button.

2. “Faith is for the heartbroken, the embittered, the doubting, and the dead.” he writes.

3. he describes the people who have gathered through the years at the death of loved ones and proclaim their faith in the face of death as people who “stand upright between the dead and the living and say, ‘Behold, I tell you a mystery…’” (81).

My friends, today, I proclaim to you the mystery of the God who is not quite done, the God of resurrection.

Move 2: Tom Are, Jr. reminds us that the first Easter gathering was not a public gathering.

a. Now, of course, Easter is a big event.

1. community Easter egg hunts.

2. Big crowds at church.

3. stores changing their hours of operation to accommodate Easter gatherings.

b. But that first Easter Jesus did not go public.

1. there were were no crowds to witness the resurrection.

2. you know, the resurrected Christ could have made a public splash by walking in Pontius Pilate's office and saying: “I am here to see Governor Pilate, please.” “I’m sorry, sir, is the governor expecting you?” “No, I’m pretty sure he’s not expecting me.”

3. or going down to the Temple and publicly parading around, pointing the chief priests and asking, “what do you think about your arguments against me now.”

  1. or he could have gone to the barracks of the Romans soldiers and asked if those who had gambled for his clothes and won could give them back.
(this thought on Jesus appearing publicly was shared by Tom Are, in his sermon “Resurrection Choices,” preached a Village Presbyterian, Prairie Village, KS, on April 15, 2015)

c. Jesus does not go public. Instead he turns to his followers, he turns to us.

1. “here I am,” he says. “Back from the dead. Your work [our work] is not quite done.

2. Jesus has overcome death and invites us into that new life.

3. not just for our own sake.

4. Not just to know the promise of eternal life.

  1. But to be part of what God is still doing in the world.

6. The resurrection is not played out as a public spectacle but as Christ's followers go into the world living in the hope of the resurrection.

God is not quite done, which means that we, the followers of the resurrected Christ are not quite done.

Move 3: I read an interesting blog entry the other day from a mother whose daughter Amma started showing up with a green blob. In fact, the four-year-old had been showing up for four days with the green blob on her forehead.

Her mother noted that Amma was her third child, so she didn't really bother her too much. If her first child had had a green blog on his forehead, she notes that one the first day she would have taken him to the pediatrician.

But the third child. Well, there it was. No questions were asked until the fourth day. On the fourth day Amma had showered and when her mother toweled her off, she noticed that her forehead was clean. No green blob.

But when Amma came out of her room after dressing, there was a green blob on the forehead again.
so, what's with the green blob”

Her daughter looked up at her and said, “I'm a child of God.”

And her mother noticed that the green blob was a really smeared green cross that just looked like a green blog.

My green is to remember. So I can be brave.”


c. We gather here to tell the story of resurrection again and remember that God is not quite done.

1. to be reminded that God has overcome sin and death and god invites us into that new reality.

2. when we hear of bombs blowing up and in metro stations and airports, we remember that God is not quite done and we have work to do.

3. When we see the racism that is on the rise in our own nation and communities and hear the rhetoric that divides us, we remember that God is not quite done and we have work to do.

4. when we see the news of a world at war, we remember that God is not quite done and we have work to do.

5. When a loved one dies and our heart breaks, we remember that God is not quite done and we hold fast to the hope of the resurrection.

Conclusion: My friends, I tell you this mystery: the God who raises the Christ from the dead is not quite done, and we are called to be serve the Resurrected in the world now. Amen.



Friday, March 25, 2016

"Not Quite Done" John 20: 1-18; I Corinthians 15: 12-26

The sermon title should be "Not Quite Finished," but I had already published it in the newsletter so I did not change it.  The reason it should be "finished" instead of done is that I focused on Christ's comment from the cross, "It is finished" during our Maundy Thursday/Tenebrae service last night.  The service finished with voices from the pews echoing Jesus' words.

I will begin Easter's sermon by taking us back to those words.  Then, I will move forward with the idea that God is not quite "done" or "finished" when Christ is crucified.  Resurrection follows.  part of the sermon will be pointing toward our calling as people who join God in the unfinished business.

As some of you may know, my sister died yesterday (actually Wednesday night on the west coast) after a fourteen-year struggle with cancer.  I know that as I stand up to preach the resurrection, it will be foremost on my mind.  I am prayerful that I can figure out a way to acknowledge my own "stuff" without making the sermon about my "stuff."  Fortunately, I had the framework of the sermon done, so I have that to cling to as I finish my preparation, but I also am hearing resurrection in a very personal way.  Not private, like it is only for me, but personal in that it matters this year in a way that it has not always.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Reflections on "Looking Toward Easter" John 11: 28-44; John 19: 38-42

As you may have noticed, one of the Scripture lessons changed from Thursday to Sunday.  Actually, as I was working on the sermon I was using the John 11: 28-44 passage, but when I put it in the bulletin I was not paying attention and put John 11: 11-27.  They are similar passages -- the first is Martha's encounter with Jesus after her brother Lazarus has died; the second is her sister Mary's encounter with Jesus after Lazarus has died.  The initial words of Martha and Mary are the same, but Jesus responds differently.  To Martha, he shares the hope, "I am the resurrection and the life...." To Mary, he speaks less and acts more as he weeps with her and then commands Lazarus to come back to life.  It would make for a neat sermon to tell that story and the story of Mary and Martha when Jesus comes to their house and each reacts differently to Christ's presence.  But, that's a sermon for another day.

This sermon probably had too much resurrection in it given that next Sunday is Easter, but it is part of the Lenten Bible study that finishes the Gospel of John this week.  The end of John, of course, has to do with resurrection.  Hopefully it set the stage well for next week's Easter sermon without stealing all its thunder.

(John 19:38-42) After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. (NRSV)

Looking Toward Easter” February 14, 2016; FPC,Troy; John 11: 28-44; John 19: 38-42; Lenten series on the Gospel of John

Introduction: Not quite Easter. Yes, we are talking about resurrection this morning, but it's not Easter yet.

We are talking Easter because this week our Lenten study finishes the Gospel of John, and of course, the end of the Gospel of John takes us through the resurrection.

The waving of the palm branches has us looking toward Easter, but we still have a few things yet to do.

We have the Last Supper – in John the gathering for a meal when Jesus washes his feet; in the other gospels the gathering for a meal in which Jesus breaks the bread and passes the cup and declares that it is his body broken and his blood shed for the world.

We still have the betrayal of Jesus by Judas; the arrest of Jesus; we still have Jesus on trial; then Jesus dying on the cross; we still have Jesus being laid in the tomb; then after we have the body lying the tomb;

Finally, we are ready for the resurrection.

This morning, I want to point out a few things for us to notice as we prepare for our Easter celebration of the resurrection.

Move 1: Resurrection takes us back....back to the garden.

a. In the Gospel of John, when Joseph of Arimathea comes to prepare Jesus body and put it in a tomb, we are told that the the place where Jesus was crucified was in a garden an that there was an empty tomb also there.

  1. in that tomb, in the garden, Joseph lays Jesus' dead body.

    1. To the garden Mary will return in a few days where she discovers that the stone has been removed and the tomb is empty.
3. Garden has been a running theme in the Gospel of John.
    1. The arrest of Jesus in the Gospel of John takes places at an unnamed garden.
    1. The first words in the Gospel of John are, “in the beginning,” which mimic the opening line of the biblical story, the beginning in which God creates the world and breathes the breath of life into Adam and Eve.
    1. The beginning in which God places Adam and Eve in the the Garden of Eden.
b. The garden of Eden.

1. that place where God and humans lived in right relationship.

2.  that place where humans lived in right relationship with one another.

3.  That place that showed off all of God's goodness.

4.  that place where perfection was shattered by human sinfulness and the desire of humans to be like God.

  1. Thematically, the Gospel of John points to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the beginning of the return to that place.
  1. In the resurrection, Jesus defeats sin and death.
2. Because of the resurrection, we have the opportunity to be in right relationship with God and with each other.

3.  Resurrection offers a return to the garden.

Move 2: Resurrection is not just coming back from the dead.

a. Look at the difference in Jesus' raising of the Lazarus and the resurrection of Jesus.

  1. Had to get people to move the grave stone.

2. Grave cloths are still on Lazarus.

  1. Wrap still around his head.

4. Image from the movies of zombies running around with the mummy wrap still one them.

3. Lazarus was easily recognizable by those there.

  1. Lazarus did not live in a qualitatively different fashion after being brought back to life.  He was not more alive than before, simply alive again in the same way as before.  That he was alive again no doubt pleased both Jesus and Lazarus's sisters, Mary and Martha. 
But even when resuscitated, Lazarus remained mortal; he still faced inevitable death.  In other words, his mortality was postponed but not transcended.  And when he finally died, Lazarus stayed dead, like all others before him.  In sum, his resuscitation did not mean that he was more alive than he had been, or that he continued in life forever, or that he lived powerfully in the lives of others (Luke Timothy Johnson, Living Jesus (1998).

6. Brought back to life, but still bound by death.

b. Jesus' resurrection seemed different.

  1. Stone moved.
    1. Grave cloths laying there in the tomb.
    1. Head wrap neatly folded.
    1. People did not recognize Jesus – Mary thinks he is the gardener.
    1. He can just appear behind closed doors.                      
    2. He is transformed by the resurrection to something beyond merely being brought back to life.
  c.   In the resurrection, Jesus invites us into a new reality.
 
            1. One of the members of the congregation I serve sent me these words from the first chapter of Luke Timothy Johnson's book Living Jesus (1998):

    1. The resurrection of Jesus has nothing to do with his avoiding death by luck or design in order to continue his former life without any real change.
    1. In other words, if Jesus had just been brought back to life, it might have brought joy to his friends and his family, but ti would not have changed the world.
    1. The world needed, and God provided, a resurrection.
  1. The resurrection of Jesus ushers in a new reality.
  1. we may die an earthly death, but we are no longer bound by death.
  1. the world and its power may be able to kill, but it cannot overcome the power of God to resurrection.
Move 3: Mary and Mary

a. Mary, Martha and Lazarus' sister.
  1. Like Martha, Mary meets up with Jesus after her brother Lazarus is dead and in the tomb.
2.  Like her sister, Mary is frustrated with Jesus. “If you had been here he would not have died.”

3.  when Martha utters those words, Jesus tells her that “he is the resurrection.”

  1. With Mary, he does not speak as much as he does.
5.  first he weeps with her.

6. then he goes into the tomb, into the stench of death, and brings Lazarus back to life.

7. Jesus shows here what it means that he is the resurrection.

8. that he is her hope in the face of death.

6. Hope to which he will give evidence to when he brings Lazarus back to life.

b. Mary Magdalene

1. because her name does not include mention of a husband's name, the assumption is made that she is single, or maybe a widow.
  1. tradition had it that she had hard life, even that she was a prostitute.
3.  scene from the movie Risen:  When the Roman soldier appointed by Pontius Pilate to find the missing body of Jesus find out the names of some followers of Christ, he goes to the soldier's barracks to get some men to go with him to find these followers.  He asks if anyone knows one the disciples, and everyone shakes their head "no."  When he asks if anyone knows who Mary of Magdalene is, almost all the soldiers sheepishly look around and then raise their hands.  Most of them know her.

4. Jesus knew her , too, but no not because of who she was, but because of who she became when he welcomed her and offered her God's forgiveness and God's love.

5.  Jesus had given her a new start on life.

6.Now in the resurrection, he gives her hope for a life beyond her earthly life.

  1. Mary and Mary – personal stories of how their lives were changed.
  1. as you look toward Easter, it is not just a remembering of the story of what happened to Christ after he died.
  1. It is not simply trying to figure out what resurrection means, and when we cannot turn it all over to the mystery of God and the call to faith.
  1. It is the power of God to resurrection.
  1. As John Buchanan writes, Easter is an “invitation to 'walk through the door' into the new world where the ultimate reality is not the death of all things: the ultimate reality is God and love everlasting.” Christian Century, “Editor’s Desk: Easter’s coming” 3/20/13 (3)

Conclusion: We have a pretty good copier in the church office. Generally, it runs pretty well. When things get sorta messed up, you can just hit the cancel button; or if it's a little more messed up you can hit the “Main power” button. Between those two, most problems are solved.

But sometimes, when signals get crossed, or human error has overcome the ability of the computer

Sometimes we have to go to the back of the machine and find the button that turns off all power to the machine. Big problems apparently require a new beginning. Not a minor fix, but a complete restart.

We look to the resurrection, not for a little change in our lives, or some type of band-aid for our world.

The resurrection is God's radical transformation of the world, an invitation to return to the goodness of the Garden of Eden where it all began.

Friday, March 18, 2016

"Looking Toward Easter" John 11: 17-27; John 19: 38-42

The final week of the Lenten study groups brings us to the end of the Gospel of John, which means the story of the resurrection and Jesus post-resurrection appearances.  Of course, with Easter one week away, it seems a bit premature to proclaim the resurrection in the sermon.  I am going to try and reflect on the resurrection in a way that prepares us for its arrival.  When we chose this study, I knew this week would arrive with its mixed signals of resurrection and the waving of palm branches, but I think the study of the Gospel of John has been worth this dilemma.

Part of the sermon seems to be headed toward a continued discussion of the difference between the resurrection of Christ and bringing a dead person back to life.  In fact, I will compare the raising of Lazarus with the resurrection of Christ.  One of the members of the congregation I serve sent me these words from the first chapter of Luke Timothy Johnson's book Living Jesus (1998):

The resurrection of Jesus has nothing to do with his avoiding death by luck or design in order to continue his former life without any real change.  Theories ancient and modern proposing otherwise replace evidence with imagination.  They also fail to appreciate that such a prosaic denouement would have been good news only for Jesus and his associates, not an event that changed the world.  The New Testament is unswerving in its insistence that Jesus truly died — indeed, was killed by the legal violence of state execution (therefore in a certified and public way) — and was buried in the manner of others who had their lives ended.  Like every other human being who ever lived, therefore, Jesus of Nazareth also died.
In the same way, the resurrection of Jesus is understood not as a resuscitation from clinical death, though such dramatic resuscitations are attested in the ancient world as well as in our own.  Elijah raised the widow of Sarepta's son in this way so that the young man could continue his life (1 Kings 17:17-24).  Jesus likewise raised the widow of Naim's son from his bier (Luke 7:11-16) and his friend Lazarus from the tomb (John 11:38-44).  In all these cases, resurrection meant only the perpetuation of the same life that was led before the moment of death.  Lazarus did not live in a qualitatively different fashion after being brought back to life.  He was not more alive than before, simply alive again in the same way as before.  That he was alive again no doubt pleased both Jesus and Lazarus's sisters, Mary and Martha.  But even when resuscitated, Lazarus remained mortal; he still faced inevitable death.  In other words, his mortality was postponed but not transcended.  And when he finally died, Lazarus stayed dead, like all others before him.  In sum, his resuscitation did not mean that he was more alive than he had been, or that he continued in life forever, or that he lived powerfully in the lives of others.

As I ponder that quote, I am reminded that Lazarus came from the grave with his grave cloths wrapped around him; Jesus' gave cloths lying in the tomb and the head wrap folded up by itself.  As if Lazarus did not escape death, but was still bound by death, albeit death at a later time.  On the other hand, Jesus has removed beyond death in his resurrection.

I am also pondering how differently the resurrected Christ must have appeared since people had trouble recognizing him.



Monday, March 14, 2016

Reflections on "the Passion" John 18: 1-12; John 19: 13-27

Another Lenten sermon following Adam Hamilton's book on the Gospel of John that we are using for our Lenten small groups.  Another sermon with lots of material, maybe too much material.  when I have a point that has eleven sub-points, I probably am using too much information!

Two significant theological thoughts are found in this sermon, either of which is worthy of more attention.  The first one is found in the second move -- the discussion of does God suffer, or where God is in our suffering is a powerful question that remains unanswered, but is revealing as its answer is sought.  The second one is found in the third move dealing with Harvey Cox's suggestion that Jesus being crucified is different than Jesus merely dying because it means that the resurrection is about the overturning of the world's power and systems, not just overcoming death. I find that a powerful thought.

The Passion” March 13, 2016; FPC, Troy; John 18: 1-12; John 19: 13-27; Lenten series on John

Introduction: Our Lenten journey through the Gospel of John brings us to the passion story, the story of Christ death and crucifixion, a little bit before Good Friday. I would note that the liturgical calendar now calls Palm Sunday "Palm/Passion Sunday" with the option to celebrate the Passion of Christ on Palm Sunday. The idea being, of course, that if people do not come back to church for a service of darkness during Holy Week, they move from shouting "hosannas" and waving palm branches to lilies and resurrection a week later with no sense of the death of Christ. Perhaps our discussion of the passion the week before Palm Sunday will help make it clear that Jesus needed to be resurrected because he had died.

Move 1: Passion?

     a. I find it interesting that "passion" is the word used to describe the story of Christ’s death.

           1.  The root word in Latin for "passion" means literally "suffering." 

          2.  Thus, when the church was part of the Roman Empire that spoke Latin, the term passion was used to describe the crucifixion of Christ because it depicted Christ's suffering.
     b. I suspect, however, that the first image that comes to mind when you hear the word passion today is not suffering, but something else.

          1. We might look to the world of relationships and romance, passion speaks to the fire one lover feels for another.

          2.  Or passion refers to something about which we care deeply, but not necessarily related to romantic love.

          3.  I hear the younger generation speaks about passion – as in, “I want to be a physical therapist because I am passionate about helping others deal with their physical issues.”

     c.  In some ways, both connotations seem to fit with what Christ is doing in the crucifixion story.

          1. Christ's feels passionate about us and about the world.

         2. Christ loves us so much that he is willing to suffer on the cross.

         3.  His passion leads to his passion, if you will.

    d. In 1633, the residents of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, vowed that if God spared them from the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would produce a play thereafter for all time depicting the life and death of Jesus.

          1.  The death rate among adults rose from one person per 1000 per year in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633. The adult death rate slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633. The villagers believed they had been spared and they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634.

          2. It was called the Passion Play because the play's plot was told around the story of the crucifixion.

          3.  The residents of Oberammergau exchanging their suffering to tell the story of Christ's suffering, if you will.

          4.  The play is now performed repeatedly over the course of five months during every year ending in zero. 102 performances took place from 15 May until 3 October 2010 and is next scheduled for 2020.

           5.  The production involves over 2,000 performers, musicians and stage technicians, all residents of the village. The Oberammergau production takes place in one day, but the running time has varied due to the many revisions that have taken place through the years. In 2010 it had a running time of 5 hours, beginning at 2:30 pm and ending at 10:00 pm, with a meal break. It was staged a total of 102 days and ran from May 15 until October 3 that year. According to a record from 1930, the play then had running time of approximately seven hours.

          6.  The play continues to be staged every ten years, in the last year of each decade – that is, the year whose numeral ends with a zero; hence, the next performances will be in 2020 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberammergau_Passion_Play)

         7.  As if we can only handle the story of the crucifixion being told in detail every ten years.

Move 2: Divine death or human death.

     a. In our Lenten small groups this week, there will be a discussion of how the Gospel of John tells the story of Christ’s crucifixion in such a way that emphasizes Christ’s divinity in the crucifixion is seen in Christ's control of what happens and Christ’s humanity is the part of Christ that suffers on the cross.

          1.  For example, in the Gospel of John we are told that Christ goes across to the other side of the Kidron Valley to a garden. Unlike Matthew and Mark, this garden is not named the Garden of Gethsemane (Hamilton, John: The Gospel of Light and Life,122).

         2.  Why? Because the Garden of Gethsemane scene in the other gospels shows Jesus full of anguish about his predicament and frustrated with the disciples who keep falling asleep.

         3.  Jesus seemingly debating whether he wants to go through with the crucifixion.

         4.  That anguish does not fit the divine image of Christ that the Gospel of John lifts up.

          5.  Or consider that in the Gospel of John we are told that a cohort or battalion of soldiers come to arrest Jesus. This designation of troops is not found in the other gospels, and it reflects somewhere between 200 or 600 soldiers (depending on the exact reference) show up to arrest and unarmed Jesus, reflects that power of the divine Jesus that requires a battalion of soldiers (Hamilton, 123 -- Hamilton says 600, but the New Interpreter's Bible suggests it could be a group of 200 also; New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IX, 801).

          6.  We might also notice how Jesus responds with "I am he," to the soldiers' question, which references the "I am" sayings and God's name "I am."

          7.  when Jesus uses that name, the soldiers step back and fall on the ground, which presumably confirms that power of the divine Jesus.

        8. this all points to the fact that Jesus can only be crucified with his permission, if you will.

          9. the soldiers who fall on the ground stand no chance against the divine, unless the divine one has chosen to give himself over to crucifixion.

          10. in John's telling of Jesus' trial, the word king or kingdom is used fifteen times (Hamilton, 125).

          11.  A fact which seems to be emphasized when Pontius Pilate insists that the sign "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews" remains posted. Only in the Gospel of John is the phrase written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek, which covers the languages of all the world as they would know it (Hamilton, 132).

     b. This opens up a conversation about what is more powerful -- Jesus' human side suffering and the insistence that Jesus' divine side is still in control of his destiny or Jesus' divinity suffering?

          1.  Historically, people have suggested that it is the human side of Christ that we see in the body on the cross. It was a heresy in the early church to say that God could suffer.

          2.  but in the 20th century, theologians began to reassess that claim, particularly in light of the Holocaust (perhaps we might see it through the lens of 9/11).

          3.  Where is God in the suffering? Standing by and watching for some reason we cannot understand?

          4. Or, as some theologians would argue, God is suffering with us.

          5.  The point being made that not only can the divine Christ suffer, but willingly does so to join with us in our human suffering.

          6.  I am not sure we can separate the acts of Christ into those that are human and that are divine. Certainly, we would do so at the risk of revealing our inability to know the mind of God.

          7.  But I do find power in the God who chooses to suffer with us as Christ dies on the cross.

Move 3: why does it matter how Jesus died?

     a. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is crucified on the Day of Preparation (for the Passover) which would be when the lamb was slaughtered for the Passover celebration.

          1.  This projects Jesus as the Passover lamb (Hamilton, 130).

          2.  The death, if you will, that brings with it the hope that the angel of death that spared the Israelites will pass over us as well as our death leads to eternal life.

     b. We also note that Jesus does not die, but is crucified.

          1.  There is a difference.

          2. As Harvey Cox notes, “To restore a dead person to life might be seen to strike a blow at mortality.

         3. But to restore a crucified man to life means to strike an equally decisive blow at the system that caused his wrongful death, and the death systems that continue to cause the suffering and fatality of millions in what the Latin American theologian Jon Sobrino calls ‘a world of crosses.’” When Jesus Came to Harvard, Harvey Cox (277).

          4. Being crucified takes on additional meaning once Christ is resurrected because it challenges the way the world works.

           5. In Jesus Christ, Superstar, after Jesus trial as it becomes clear Christ would be crucified, those who were left behind sing the song, “Could We Start Again Please.”
MARY MAGDALENE
I’ve been living to see you.
Dying to see you, but it shouldn’t be like this.
This was unexpected,
What do I do now?
Could we start again please?
I’ve been very hopeful, so far.
Now for the first time, I think we’re going wrong.
Hurry up and tell me,
This is just a dream.
Oh could we start again please?
PETER
I think you’ve made your point now.
You’ve even gone a bit too far to get the message home.
Before it gets too frightening,
We ought to call a vote,
So could we start again please?
The whole cast of Christ's followers then join in singing those words (March 23, 2008; Blog Don't Eat Alone, Milton Brasher-Cunningham)
Crucifixion means no starting over again. Christ does not die on the cross so we can have cosmic redo on life.
Christ dies on the cross, so that he can usher in a new kingdom. A kingdom in which his love overcomes sin and death.
Conclusion: In the Gospel of John, Jesus does not cry out from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me."
Instead, his last words are, "it is finished," which has the connotation(Hamilton, 136).
A mission accomplished by his passion.

(John 19:13-27) When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge's bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, "Here is your King!" They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says, "They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots." And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. (NRSV)





Thursday, March 10, 2016

"The Passion" John 18: 1-12; John 19: 13-27

Our Lenten journey through the Gospel of John brings us to the passion story, the story of Christ death and crucifixion, a little bit before Good Friday.  I would note that the liturgical calendar now calls Palm Sunday "Palm/Passion Sunday" with the option to celebrate the Passion of Christ on Palm Sunday. The idea being, of course, that if people do not come back to church for a service of darkness during Holy Week, they move from shouting "hosannas" and waving palm branches to lilies and resurrection a week later with no sense of the death of Christ.  Perhaps our discussion of the passion the week before Palm Sunday will help make it clear that Jesus needed to be resurrected because he had died.

I find it interesting that "passion" is the word used to describe the death of Christ.  The root word for "passion" means literally "suffering," which makes sense given Christ's suffering.  But, passion has taken on a different connotation that speaks to strong feels.  We are "passionate" about things that have significant meaning to us, and passion is often used in the context of a strong love for someone.  That, of course, fits as well when we think about Christ's strong love, that is passion,  for us and for the world that leads him to the cross, that is his passion/suffering.

Although in this chapter Hamilton notes that Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, John does not specify the exact place, instead referring to it as a garden on the other side of the Kidron Valley (Hamilton, John: The Gospel of Light and Life, 122). Remember, this takes place immediately after Jesus has finished his prayer.  the Gospel of John does not have a garden scene like the synoptics in which Jesus is anguished as he prays and frustrated with the disciples ss they fall asleep.  Hamilton suggest that this is because the Gospel of John  focuses on Jesus' divinity, and the human side of Jesus that is agonizing over what is to take place does not fit this image (Hamilton, 123).  This opens up a conversation about what is more powerful -- Jesus' human side suffering and the divine side being in control of his destiny, or divine suffering.  If I argue that divine suffering has more power, it is still hard for us to accept that God might suffer.

Hamilton points out that in the Gospel of John a cohort or battalion of soldiers come to arrest Jesus.  This designation of troops is not found in the other gospels, and it reflects somewhere between 200 or 600 soldiers (depending on the exact reference) show up to arrest and unarmed Jesus (Hamilton, 123 -- Hamilton says 600, but the New Interpreter's Bible suggests it could be a group of 200 also; New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IX, 801).  Hamilton argues that this reflects that power of the divine Jesus that requires a battalion of soldiers (Hamilton, 123).

We might also notice how Jesus responds with "I am he," to the soldiers' question, which references the "I am" sayings and God's name "I am." John also gives the image of the soldiers stepping back and falling on the ground, which presumably confirms that power of the Jesus, although it begs the question how they could capture him if they were afraid of him.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus does not appear before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. Hamilton notes that in John's telling of Jesus' trial, the word king or kingdom is used fifteen times (Hamilton, 125).

IN the Gospel of John, Jesus is crucified on the Day of Preparation (for the Passover) which would be when the lamb was slaughtered for the Passover celebration.  This projects Jesus as the Passover lamb (Hamilton, 130).    Hamilton also notes that only in the Gospel of John is the name "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews" posted in three language m(Aramaic, Latin, and Greek).  Again, John's focus on the divinity of Christ (132).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus does not cry out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me."  Instead, his last words are, "it is finished," which has the connotation of not just being complete, but "announcing that the battle has been won, a mission accomplished" (Hamilton, 136).

Where do you think the focus of this sermon should be?