Luke 13: 31-39

Jesus is aware of what is happening.  He knows the danger that is swirling around.  The Pharisees understand it somewhat; the crowd, the crowd is clueless.

When I read this morning's passage I reminded of the Beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn…" and also how at the end of Luke's gospel, "Jesus weeps over Jerusalem."  We know from personal experience tears and mourning go together, so it is easy for us to recognize that Jesus is mourning what is to come. His words are not words of judgment. They are words of compassion, concern, caring and love.  Jesus mourns with and for the people even before they know to mourn. Jesus enters their suffering and offers his presence. He enters their suffering and offers his greatest gift, the gift of self, because "to see through a troubled situation is to see through to the face of God." (Taken from Affirmation "Suffering" used as the Response of the People during worship)

Mourning is different than grieving. Grief is inner pain. Grieving is about us, and there are times when our grieving is healthy and necessary. Grieving leads to our being made whole. To mourn is to express sorrow. It is the response to another’s loss, pain and grief. It is to enter another's pain in a way that makes it not about us, but the other.  Mourning is not about trying to fix, heal or make better; rather it is about being present as the healing unfolds.  This quote from an unknown source describes it.

"What does it mean to mourn? I asked the multitude, and an old man step forward.

'To mourn he said is to be given a second heart. It is to care so deeply that you show you ache in person. To mourn is to be unashamed of tears. It is to be healed and broke, and built-up in the same moment.

'Blessed are you if you can minster to others with a heart that feels, with a heart that hurts, with a heart that loves. And blessed are you if you can minster to others with a heart that serves and a heart that sees the need before it is spoken.

'To mourn is to forget yourself for a moment and get lost in someone else's pain, and then to find yourself in the very act of getting lost.

'To mourn is to be an expert in the miracle of being careful with another's pain. It is to be full of willingness of forever reaching out to and picking up and holding carefully those who hurt.

"To mourn is to sing with the dying and be healed by the song and the death."

Mourning is about more than embracing the grief associated with the dying. It includes connecting to the pain of injustice; the yoke of oppression. When we mourn with those who are suffering we stand with them. Rather than being consumed by their pain, we become their strength, their voice; we make sure the world does not forget. This is why we can affirm that "suffering is a gift" because "to suffer with another is to enter a new relationship". To mourn, “to be sensitive to the world's pain is the first step toward action." (Suffering Affirmation)

Most people in our culture are not good at mourning. They tend to push people through their personal grief and sorrow. They downplay, minimize or deny the damage or impact as a way of safeguarding themselves from their own pain and tears. They don't recognize how mourning and tears that are not self-indulgent can be a catalyst for change. The change becomes because we are in touch with the pain.

To mourn is to move from cluelessness to awareness. The awareness comes when we care; when we invest ourselves in the greater good. This happens when our tears are for the suffering of others, for then our tears are the kind of tears that Jesus shed. They are the tears that God sheds for the world. Such tears are tears for the brokenness of life; the brokenness that does not have to be and the brokenness that we cannot fix. The brokenness that we all share in comes in part because sometimes like the Pharisees we only have some idea; but too often like the crowd, our world is clueless. Clueless to the love, grace, healing, mercy and hope God offers.

Much of our world is estranged from the love God offers, and there are moments when we are as well. Such is the nature of our "finite and imperfect existence." (Henri Nouwen) But amid this finite and imperfect existence comes the call to care. Henri Nouwen describes it this way.

To care is to cry out with those who are ill, confused, lonely, isolated
and forgotten and to recognize their pain in our own hearts.
To care is to be present with those who suffer
and to stay present even when nothing can be done to change the situation.
To care is to be compassionate and so to form a community of people 
honestly facing the painful reality of our finite and imperfect existence.   

Despite what many in our world say and believe God cares. God cares for us and for all people, whether they care or not. God also calls us to care, to stand with all anywhere who suffer, that we may learn what it means to mourn. Our mourning will lead not only to our being comforted. It will lead to our offering comfort to the world, as we discover all the ways God and Christ are present creating community.  Through this community we can honestly face and not avoid, minimize or deny the suffering that is a part of life. In so doing we will discover the gift suffering contains; the gift that allows us to go from cluelessness to awareness. This is the gift that brings a healing hope even amid the brokenness of our lives and life together; for such is the nature of God’s love which guides and sustains us. Such is the nature of a Christ who weeps and mourns for us just as he did for Jerusalem.  Amen.

Luke 4: 1-12

We have heard it before, we do not live by bread alone, yet too often we think and act as if we do.

Worship the Lord your God and serve only God, yet too often we worship and serve a whole host of gods.Do not put the Lord your God to the test, yet directly and indirectly we do test or challenge God.I believe this is in part why we are here, why we need to hear it again. While we seek to live more faithfully, we recognize that we are at odds with faithful living.  As this morning's prayer of confession stated, "the temptation we know goes deeper than our acts of commission and omission. This is so because we are influenced by attitudes and a mindset that causes us to:

• believe that our value is tied to our achievements, which is a way of living by bread alone.
• worship or make our possessions too important, turning them into gods that we worship.
• allow things to come between God and us, which is a way of putting god to the test.

All of this tells me that faith grows and evolves in the real world as we live, struggle, celebrate and discover, as face and not avoid the issues of our day. Faith grows and evolves as we seek to understand what motivates and drives us, and then honestly confess and own this about ourselves. Through all of this, our faith rarely remains the same and this is a good thing, a hope-filled thing.

Living our faith is hard work, but it is not work we do alone. Being faithful calls for honesty and making tough choices. At the same time it enables us to see the wonder and beauty that is life. It allows us to celebrate the wonder of interdependence; the way we connect to and depend on God and one another.  

Ironically often times this very interdependence is what we resist. One some levels we resent it and fight against it. We believe that giving in to it will make us appear weak and needy. In our attempt to prove that we are not weak or needy, we fall prey to:

• believing our value is tied to our achievements and independence.
• worshipping other gods like power, appearance and affluence.
• allowing other things to come between God and us.
• The result, we ignore the healing, hope, strength and comfort God offers us and calls us to offer to the world.

As part of my Lenten spiritual discipline, I ask questions. I ask them of myself and those who participate in our Lenten study. Questions help get to the truth of what lies beneath. If you think you do not fall prey to living by bread alone, or worshipping other gods, or testing God, I ask you the following.  

Have you ever been tempted to:

• talk about your good fortune when another is down or struggling?
• remain silent when another was doing this in your presence?
• refuse to talk seriously with another about something important to him or her because doing so made you feel uncomfortable?
• assume the worse in evaluating another's motives?
• respond to change or new ideas with the silent treatment?
• discourage another from trying something new or different?
• sabotage in subtle or overt ways another person’s moment?
• question to a third party another persons’ motives?
• trivialize, ridicule or mock another because you felt uncomfortable?
• reject another's idea simply because it made him or her look good?
• argue or debate a point simply to intimidate or silence another?

We have all done some or all of these things, or some similar acts; and while we have had our reasons, our excuses, we know that is exactly what they are, excuses. Excuses that point to an anxiety or insecurity that lies within us.

So what do we do? We acknowledge and accept that this is so, that we do these things. At the same time we also need to remember that we are capable of so much more, including behavior that offers healing, hope, forgiveness and acceptance.  

We are more likely to trust in this healing, hope-filled behavior when we remember three simple truths.

• Our value is not tied to our achievements and independence.
• Power, appearance and affluence do not bring us peace of mind.
• Allowing another to come between God and us hurts us and others.

Embracing these truths will not guarantee us an easy road. They will however allow us to hear the message; a message that can help ground us amid the temptations we all encounter. Such grounding will allow us to receive and offer God's healing, hope, strength, comfort and connection, in times of joy, times of sorrow and every moment in between. And in the end, isn't that what we all need to hear again and again? Amen.

Luke 9:28-36

"You are the light of the world…" This is a familiar Biblical passage to all of us. It is not however one that is often associated with Transfiguration Sunday. Maybe it ought to be. Let me explain.

I have always found the story of the Transfiguration to be a bridge story. It comes on the last Sunday of Epiphany, which is the season of light, and bridges us to the season of Lent. Lent is historically a darker time where the cross looms and we begin to see the shadows. It is a time when we are encouraged to explore how we are a part of the darkness; how and why it is that we are not letting our light shine, how quoting from this morning's prayer of confession, in some ways our spark is faint.

At first glance it is easy to see this story as being about Jesus. The larger story includes:

• Jesus asking the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?"
• Jesus telling the listeners that in order to follow, you must "deny yourself, take up your cross and follow."
• Jesus taking Peter, James and John away to pray where the Transfiguration happens.
• The words from on high, "this is my beloved Son, listen to him…"
• Jesus telling the disciples to "tell no one…"

I believe only seeing the story in this way would be a mistake. We would miss much of the meaning and power contained in the story because the story is also about how the disciples saw Jesus. They saw Jesus as God intends for us to see Jesus and us; as persons who can shine and transform the world. One of the instruments God uses to let God’s light shine. (Adam Thomas, February 9, 2010, Christian Century, pg. 19) Seeing the story this way changes the dynamic and emphasis of the story. It is not just about Jesus. It is also about us and the way we live; how our actions cause our luminosity to fade. (Thomas, Christian Century)

It may be hard for us to recognize how our actions cause our luminosity to fade.  To help us recognize it better, I invite you to ponder the following.

• How often do you become anxious or let your anxiety grow to the point where it unnerves or immobilizes you?  How many of these anxieties are really trivial?
• How often do you become perplexed and uncertain in this shifting, chaotic existence of ours?
• How well do you make peace with the truth that we cannot solve all the mysteries or know all things?  Does your faith ever lose its grip?
•  Do you ever become apathetic in the face of the world’s insatiable thirst for love and concern?
• Do you ever let fear hold you in its clammy grip; fear for yourself and for others; fear of events; fear of the future?  Does this fear ever turn to despair?
• Reflecting on the way we treat others…
• How often do you belittle, demean, or mock others?
• How often do you fail to defend the honor of a friend?
• How often do you fail to keep a confidence?
• How often do you ignore or minimize another person's pain?
• How often do you fail to follow through on a promise?
• How often do you lie to get ahead or keep peace?
• How often do you fail to listen?
• How often do you harbor some resentment; think someone got what he or she deserved; silently smile or secretly rejoice over another's misfortune?

Honestly answering these questions makes it a little easier to see how we don't let our light shine. As we understand this, the question becomes, "Amid such discovery, what do we do?" I can think of at least three things.

• First we need to accept and not deny that we do these things, trusting that such acceptance will lead to a desire to change.  
• Secondly, recognize that Jesus took Peter, James and John away from the others. Doing this helped them see how God offers them and us the gift of "transforming eyes." (Thomas, Christian Century, February 9, 2010, pg. 19)  
• Thirdly, we need to embrace the grace God offers, for by and through this grace we can become radiant again. All we need to do is believe in and trust this grace. All we need to do is embrace the hope found when we understand what it means to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow", which means that despite all we can do, we cannot save ourselves. Only God can save and redeem us and the world. When we do so, God's gift of grace begins to sustain and inspire us.

 
I don't know if it is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. (Marianne Williams). I do believe that when we remember that each of us is a child of God, we are better able to affirm that hiding our light does not serve the world, because as Marianne Williams has said, "We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us." This glory transforms us; and as we let our light shine, as we let God’s transforming love work in and through us we become radiant again and we give other people permission to do the same.

In so doing, we make the connection between our being the light of the world and the call to trust that God can, has and continues to transfigure you and me. God does this, not for our glory and betterment, but to God’s glory and the betterment of God's world. Amen. 

Luke 5: 1-11

When is the last time you thought about or discussed how God calls you; how God speaks to you as you go about the business of living your life? I suspect it has been a while. We tend to not think in those terms, or use that language. We think the miraculous things that happened in the Bible don't happen today. As a result, we have come to expect too little from God and too little from ourselves. (January 26, 2010 Christian Century, pg.21)  

It's not that we don't believe in God, we do. We even give thanks to God for the many ways God blesses us. It's more that we don't expect too much from God, in that we don't invite God in to our day to day living. We see God more as a passive observer; a Deity to be acknowledged for what was once done. We see God as a giver of rules, values and standards that for the most part keep us on the up and up; offering us a moral compass as we navigate through life.

Or maybe it is the flipside. We don't want God to expect too much from us. If like Peter we expect something profound, something significant from God, or trust that if we do as God says, something wonderful will happen, we would also have to admit some things about ourselves. We will have to admit that we are a sinner and we don't like to think of ourselves as sinners. We don't really use that kind of language. We may reluctantly admit that we sin but see it as something outside of us, something detached from us. We see sin as an act we may on occasion commit, not as a statement about our reluctance to fully trust in God. The message in today's scripture is not one that focuses "primarily on behavior of morality, but an inability for awe and wonder before God and the surprising power of Jesus." (January 26, 2010 Christian Century, pg. 21)

I believe God desires to offer us more than just a moral compass. Somehow we have lost sight of and fail to connect with this. In calling Peter, "Jesus asks Peter to go deeper, not only into the lake waters but also in to his experience of God's abundant and caring inspiration. Jesus presents Peter with a vision of a deeper realism that embraces his failed efforts as well as God's surprising and infinite bounty. (January 26, 2010 Christian Century, pg.21)

In order to embrace the vision, to delve deeper, we need to acknowledge and confess our reluctance, our hesitancy to confess the truth that we are sinners because we are reluctant to raise our expectations of God. And yet if we are willing to raise our expectations of God we would discover just how present and active God is in our lives and how God's presence calls us to action.        

The hymn "The Summons" describes this beautifully. It asks questions that get at the heart of what Peter was confessing. If we incorporate these questions into our faith journey the promise is, we will never be the same. Hear now the questions:

Will you come and follow me, if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let your love be shown?
Will you let my name be known?
Will you love the "you" you hide?
Will you quell the fear inside?
Will you admit to what I mean to you?
Will you let me answer prayer?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around?

Our immediate response is to say "yes" to all these questions; to say we will do all of these things. I think that response comes out of a desire to not be the same.  This is so, not because remaining the same is so bad, but because deep down we know that life and our relationship with God could be better. There is a part of us that wants what we read in the Bible to happen here and now to us and the world in which we live.

Deep down I don't think we want to believe "the world is flat and uninspiring. We want to experience the 'thin places and portals' that lead to other dimensions of divine revelation." (January 26, 2010 Christian Century, pg.21) This is so because on some levels we believe "that in mystery and silence, God is present in our lives", and we want this belief to be our inspiration.

Only we can make this so. Only we can decide to confess our sin of liking the fact that by expecting too little from God when it comes to our spiritual growth and faithfulness, we can get away with expecting less from ourselves. To assure that we will never be the same we need to step out of our heads and take that leap of faith and allow ourselves to be lead by the Spirit. We need to open ourselves, not just to what we know, but to how through prayer, meditation, hospitality and mindfulness we can allow God to move and live and grow in us. Do we have the courage to do this? I hope and pray we do. We can't afford not to.