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News & Happenings 2012 CALENDAR OF EVENTS February 2012 12 Sunday Worship service at 10am 19 Sunday Worship service at 10am, Food Pantry Sunday 22 Ash Wednesday service at 12 noon and 7:30pm 26 Sunday Worship service at 10am March 2012 4 Sunday Worship service at 10am 11 Sunday Worship service at 10am 18 Sunday Worship service at 10am 25 Sunday Worship service at 10am   >> See full Calendar of Events

Pastor Eric's sermons are presented here in reverse chronological order...in other words, the most recent sermons are at the top of the list, working backwards through time.

John 14: 1-14

Recently in our Wednesday evening study we talked about why we believe in God.  What motivates our desire to be good or faithful?  Naturally questions emerged:

·       Are we good so that we can get into heaven?

·       Is it all about after we die, or is there more to it?

·       Is it about the way we live now; our relationship with God amid the everyday?

·       Do we hope being ethical will lead to a reward or blessing that allows us to be spared from the tragedies and unhappiness of life; or do we live our lives in response to God’s love of us, out of gratitude and thanksgiving?

 

This led to a discussion about who goes to heaven.  This response came about, not because yesterday was May 21, but in response to a book by Rob Bell.  Rob Bell is the pastor of the Mars Hill Bible Church, a non-denominational church in Michigan with 10,000 worshippers on any given weekend.  Bell, a conservative evangelical broke with the traditional views of evangelicals calling them “misguided and toxic.” (Thomas Long, Christian Century, May 3, 2011 pg. 55)  He now believes non-Christians go to heaven and he cites the case of Mahatma Ghandi, who he believes is in heaven.

 

I suspect that for most, if not all of us this is not new thinking.  We don’t take literally “No one comes to the Father except through me.”, and we can think of many people we expect to see in heaven because we are open to the possibility that Jesus is not the only way.

 

Moderate and liberal Christians and scholars hear the words, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (v.6) believing that for those of us who follow Jesus

Christ sets a pathway before us, and through following his path, we experience God’s

presence in our lives.  (These words are an) affirmation that God is at work in our lives

and in the world, providing us with pathways to wholeness and giving us the power to

be partners in personal and planetary healing and salvation.  Our ability to do great

things is grounded in our relationship to God.  

                 (Bruce Epperly, processandfaith.org/lectionary for Easter 5)

       

We believe this because while Jesus is one way to God, he is not the only way.  Our Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish friends, as well as others, have a legitimate relationship with God that is just as significant as ours.  I believe that this is what the writer of John is saying when he writes:

Believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe

me because of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes in me

will do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these…(11, 12)

  

Jesus may be our way, but he is not the only way.  What Jesus taught by word and deed is what is involved in having a meaningful and life transforming relationship with God; but it is not the only way to have such a relationship.

 

I am a part of a Tuesday morning lectionary study group that meets to discuss the scripture and sermon ideas for the following Sunday.  This week we began by jokingly putting our collective feet up saying that with the world ending on May 21, we won’t need to prepare a sermon.  Then we had an intense discussion about this passage.  We wondered just how many people in our congregations worry about getting into heaven.  We also wondered how often folks think about “heaven on earth”, God’s reign among us; God guiding our lives in the here and now offering us and our offering to others opportunities to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom.

 

For me, the discussion came back to “I am the way, the truth and the life…”  I say this because it is very possible to do “good works” without being in touch with God.  People do it all the time.  I believe the good works are different when they are done in God’s name because one’s attitude or approach is different.  We no longer are doing for someone else.  We are doing with someone as we stand in relationship with that other person.  We do what we do, not because it is the right thing to do.  We do it because we see Christ in the other.  Whether or not the other sees Christ in the exchange doesn’t matter.  It is not about the other or us; it is about God.  For me, this is the true meaning of “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

 

It is not about our claiming we do this all the time or even most of the time.  It is about our being aware of those times when Christ is the source of what we do, because I believe these times change our worldview, our perspective.   They give us hope as we catch a glimpse of heaven.  For as Thomas Long writes:

Heaven is the life now coming toward us from God, the life of ‘the world to come,’ a life

that overcomes our present age.  The opposite of heaven is not hell, but instead the ‘world

that is passing away.’

Heaven is God’s unbounded love breaking in every situation, stronger than any loss,

 even death.  We don’t go to heaven; heaven comes to us.

                                             (Thomas Long, CC,5/3/11)  

  

In this context it is easy to understand how Jesus could say: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, believe also in me.” (v.1)

 

John also writes: “Believe in me because of the works themselves.” (v.11)  God’s healing grace and mercy brings heaven on earth.   The opportunity to see and share in this heaven is all around us.  It is found, not in the good things we and others do, but in the healing that comes when we recognize that it is not we who do good works, good things, but God working in and through us.

 

God is with us in all the seasons of life.  When we trust in God’s care we discover how God is the source of hope; and also the creative transformation which empowers us to reach out to others even amid our own trials and tribulations.  This is so, not because God will reward us at some future time, but because God journeying with us now reveals the hope that is and will be.  Amen.    

  

 

 

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John 20: 19-31

“Unless I see for myself, I will not believe…” is what Thomas is saying, and who can blame him.  After all, “seeing is believing”, or so we are taught.  Life has also taught us to be cautious, guarded, skeptical; “fool me once shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

 

How often have we shaken our head as we watch someone we love and care about being taken advantage of, or hurt, over and over and over again?  We try to ease our discomfort by telling ourselves it is part of life, a necessary learning, but deep inside we know the pain first hand; and because we do, we struggle with wanting to rescue the one we love.  Sometimes because of our own unresolved issues we do jump in and rescue even though we know it is wrong; and in the process make matters worse for all involved.  We know that fixing other’s problems is not in their best interest; in part because it shows a lack of faith in them, and in part because it does not allow them to grow and learn.

 

“Leveling the playing field” is different than fixing the problem.  Leveling the playing field has to do with justice and offering more equitable opportunities.  For obvious reasons the playing field is never truly level, but a loving response involves attempting to “balance the scales.”  I see Jesus doing just that in this morning’s story.

 

We have all heard the story of “Doubting Thomas” often, but I am afraid we confuse hearing the story with knowing it.  I say this because Thomas is not the only one who has doubts.

 

(I)t can be helpful to be reminded that Mary Magdalene saw the empty tomb, but she

did not believe until the risen Christ appeared and spoke to her directly, personally. 

Then, when she told the disciples about her encounter (“I have seen the Lord”), they

dismissed her words, because they had not seen for themselves, and locked themselves

in a room to hide.  When, on Easter evening, Jesus did appear in the dark corner to

which they had retreated, he showed them his hands and his side, and it was only then

that the disciples rejoiced.

                       (Martin B. Copenhaver, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 2 pg.394-396)

            

By appearing a second time when Thomas is present and by showing Thomas his hands and side, Jesus is in effect leveling the playing field.

 

In both experiences Jesus offers the same greeting: “Peace be with you.”  These words recall the comfort Jesus’ offered at John’s account of the Last Supper.   “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (14:27). All of this connects or reconnects the disciples with Jesus.  It gives them assurance and prepares them for their ministry.  As D. Cameron Murchison writes:

 

What Thomas and all the of the disciples need in their encounter with the risen Jesus

is assurance – that the one from whom they hear the word of peace and by whom they

are commissioned to represent God in the world is the very one who was crucified,

dead and buried.  Only that one heralded the reign of God at hand and embodied the

reality of that dawning reign in his teaching, healing and presence.  The risen one

must have the nail prints and wounded side to manifest the triumph of God’s grace in

the face of deepest tragedy. (They) need to know that the one in their midst now is the

one who has called them together then.  (Feasting on the Word, pg. 398)  

  

They needed this assurance because of the challenges that lie ahead.

 

Is it any different for us today?  Don’t we also want and need proof?  We do, and we receive it all the time.  Our proof comes through a different venue, but it is still God at work.  If I were to stop and ask, I am sure you could easily testify to God’s resurrection love, grace and mercy in your life.  Don’t worry I won’t put you on the spot, but I have heard your stories.  I have witnessed your testimony; such witness makes it easier for us to “keep the faith.”

 

But what of those words attributed to Jesus?  “Blessed are those who have seen and yet have come to believe.” (v.29)  How do we reconcile these words?  I ask because we all have doubts, times of questioning and wonder.  I think this is inevitable; as Fredrick Buechner has written: “Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith.  They keep it wake and moving.”  One cannot take one’s faith seriously and not encounter doubt because being faithful; holding onto hope can be a real challenge.   This is so because:

 

Life is not fair and the playing field is not level.

People don’t always play by the same rules.

Bad things happen to good and faithful people.

Hope is sometimes hard to recognize.

Being faithful and doing the loving thing is difficult.

When we love our neighbor it is not always well received.

Sorrow and pain are real.

 

For these and other reasons we too need to see the resurrected Christ.  Like Thomas we want and have said, “Unless I see for myself…”  This is just one of the reasons why we need to be in community; why we need to share with and tell the story.  As Martin Coperhaver reminds us:

 

This is the way most of us come to believe.  We did not see or touch.  We were not there. 

We heard.  Someone told us the story in a way that invited us to say yes.  We heard

someone say something, perhaps a small something that spoke to us, as if calling our

 name, from depth to depth.  There was a sermon, a passage, a prayer.  We heard.

                                        (Feasting, pg. 398)

         

Hearing the story helps us learn how to recognize the ways Jesus gives us what we need; “the peace that passes human understanding.”  The peace that is not offered by the world is the peace that comes from the knowledge that, in spite of all the hurt and harm the world can and does inflict, God’s compassion and care embodied in Jesus stands again in their (our) midst, the crucifixion notwithstanding.  (Murchison, pg. 396)  This peace is the source of our hope and offers us all we need as we seek to live faithful lives.

 

We will never see “the mark of the nails in his hands.  Nor will we ever put our fingers in the mark of the nails or our hands in his side.” (v.25)  But still despite life’s struggles and the accompanying doubts we can have faith.  All it takes, to quote Martin Luther, is “permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see”, by trusting in a resurrected Christ who offers us the peace that passes human understanding.

 

So, claim that peace.  Claim it for yourself and discover where it will take you.  Amen.     

 

     

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