“For whom are you looking?”
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 4/24/2011
Based on John 20:1-18 and Acts 10:34-43
In the movie “Torch Song Trilogy”, Arnold the son of a grieving mother who had just lost her husband, was asking his mother what she thought she would do now that “dad” was dead? Her response was, “I guess I’ll move to Florida.” “Florida? What for ma, you don’t have anyone down there, Phil (the other son) and I live here in New York. Why would you want to move down there?” “When your great-grandfather died, your great-grandmother mother moved to Florida, when my father died, my mother moved down to Florida, now that your father is dead, I’ll move to Florida. That’s what we do, we move to Florida!” Arnold responded with, “But mom, what do you want to do?” She quickly responded by saying, “I want to die, but until then, I’ll move to Florida.”
That scene was dealing with rituals. And rituals are great things, they help us get through periods of our lives, that otherwise would be so difficult that we would not be able to navigate through. The most dramatic being, when we suffer a sever loss in our life. When we lose someone very dear to us to death, we go into a period of shock, as a defense so as to not load our feelings with more grief than we can bare. It’s as if we have an internal breaker box, that when too much pain comes, the breaker trips, shutting down our emotions. But it isn’t only our emotions that shut down. Our ability to reason, to make decisions, even to recall simple events that are only an hour old, we can also become paralyzed; our whole system seems to shut down, to where only the bare minimal in activity seems to be allowed to function.
I am sure as we think about this morning’s reading, many of us here can put ourselves in-part, into the shoes of Mary and the disciples. For they were having to cope with this terrible lose, with the execution of the man they had looked to as their “rabbouni”, their “teacher”, the one that Peter had declared as “Messiah”! They surely were operating under a great deal of shock, as they start to deal with the death of their beloved, Jesus. They not only were dealing with his death, but also must have been concerned about their own safety, wondering if they too would be picked up by the authorities.
We have this amazingly beautiful story of Mary going to the place where they had laid Jesus, temporarily during the Sabbath, and finding that the tomb had been opened and Jesus’ body wasn’t where they had left him. But amid all of the fear, doubt, and confusion, we see where Jesus appears to her and speaks with her. The story doesn’t go into the technical details of “how” Jesus” was raised, but rather the story focuses on how Mary experienced “Jesus’ resurrection!”
The resurrection story is an amazing story on many different levels. First off and most importantly, the story talks about an event that goes beyond all logical and physical reasoning. When a person dies, the body doesn’t come back to life, at least not normally. This event, is telling us that something supernatural has occurred, and that this event has ongoing implications for the world.
Another very important part of this story, deals with who Jesus is appearing to, who He is having conversation with, and who has been entrusted in sharing with the world, this most important news! In a world where men where the shakers and movers, here we see God once more picking the lowly, in this case a woman named Mary, to become the new bearer of the “Good News” that God has not died but yet still lives!
This particular account of the resurrection story has an intriguing question being posed to Mary, thus being posed to us by Jesus when he asked Mary, “For whom are you looking?” Or it could be said in another way, “What are you looking for, Mary?” “What are you doing here? What do you expect to find?”
When we come to church; when we come to worship, be it on Easter Sunday morning, or Christmas Eve, or any Sunday of the month for that matter, what is it that we are looking for? Whom do we seek? What are we hoping to find? Do we come to worship out of tradition? Do we move to Florida, because that’s what others before us have done? Or, this is what we do on Easter Sunday, we come to church. Or our families have always come to church on Sunday and that’s what we do, because, it is programmed into our DNA, to come to church on Sunday? But when you get here, what do you expect to happen? Do you expect to find God here? Are you suppose to feel better for coming to church? Are you shocked when you come and do not find Jesus here? Or do you see only an empty tomb?
Do you ask yourself, “Am I the empty tomb?” Do I ever think that God has died within my own life, and I’m hoping beyond all hope that God is truly alive, living in a church, and that possibly by coming before The Cross, I will find God? Will I experience a “resurrection” within this empty tomb? You see, it isn’t a matter of whether Jesus raised from the grave as the scriptures describe, but rather, how we personally encounter Jesus.
Is Jesus alive within us, this morning? Have we this personal encounter with Jesus, as Mary had a personal encounter with Jesus there at the tomb? Jesus didn’t appear to Peter or John when they came running and found that the body of Jesus wasn’t where they had left him. Jesus didn’t speak to them at the empty tomb; they left, not having this experience that Mary ended up having, at least not at that point, for as we continue to read on, we know that Jesus did come to the other disciples later on.
Why did Jesus appear to Mary and not to the two disciples who had come to investigate the report from Mary about the empty tomb? Possibly it was because when John saw the wrappings of the burial cloths neatly placed in the tomb; he remembered what Jesus had been telling them about his death and would arise from death into eternal life. Maybe it was because Mary was needing personal comforting to ease her anxieties and soften her grief that Jesus appeared to her. For when Jesus first appeared to her, she didn’t recognize that it was He. For me, the lesson that I see in this part of the narrative, is that we encounter Jesus in many different ways, and often, we do not immediately recognize Jesus being with us, but that it can come over time.
This morning as we come to Christ’s table, we celebrate the “empty tomb”! We celebrate the story of “resurrection”. We do experience resurrection daily in our lives, but like Mary, we might not recognize it immediately, but in time, as we are able to comprehend the story, begin to understand it. God’s love for us is so great, that life renews itself, even during times when we cannot see it! I ask the question that Jesus asked, “For whom are you looking?” I think we are here today, looking to understand that death has no victory over us, but rather, life is eternal. This is the message of the “empty tomb”, God loves his creation so much that death has no lasting sting, but through “resurrection”, life has victory! Amen
Monday, May 2, 2011
Palm Sunday Worship "Jerusalem Today, 'Religious Rebellion'"
This particular Palm Sunday was conducted as if you were sitting at home watching a morning news broadcast, much like Reggis and Kathy type program. Where I and Sharon Pribyl (member of church) co-hosted a morning religious program that dealt with current news and intermingaled with scriptures and singing. I am only presenting the actual "news cast" portion of this service where Sharon and I were suppose to be reporting on the current challenges to Jewish religous practises and teachings by the rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, but have interruptions with events on the street, such as Jesus' triumphal entry and a report between Jesus and Herod. The service was concluded with recognizing that Jesus had been tried and killed, with the veiling of the cross and the congregation laying their palms at the foot of the cross and exiting quietly to the song, "Where You There."
Palm Sunday Celebration Worship, "Jerusalem Today, 'Religious Rebellion'"
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY April 17, 2011
Dramatic Reading: Jerusalem Today!
With Anchors: Sharon Isaac and Steven Jacobs
Giving you the straight talk about, “what is going on in Jerusalem today!”
Sharon: Hello, I’m Sharon Isaac
Steven: And I’m Steven Jacobs
Unison: Reporting to you today from our downtown studio Mount of Olives Towers, located in the heart of Jerusalem.
Sharon: Today we continue our topic on Religious Rebellion! Steven, you are well aware of so much unrest among the citizens in Jerusalem and outlying areas with so many reported “self proclaimed prophets”, of late. Some are even being referred to as “Messiah’s”.
Steven: That is so right, Sharon and one of these “Isaiah come lately” is a man from up North in the province of Nazareth!
Sharon: Truly a Nazarene? Honestly, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Steven: That is a good question Sharon. Only time will be able to answer that one! This brings us to this morning’s focus on Religious Rebellion. Today’s discussion will be about the latest self-proclaimed Messiah, the man called Jesus of Nazareth! As I understand from one of our underground sources, this self-proclaimed prophet, will be making an appearance at the City Center Temple later today.
Sharon: That should create some excitement, for sure, Steven. Do we know yet how he plans to get into Jerusalem? I understand that all of the gates are under heavy guard, checking papers of everyone who is coming and going from the city. At last report, there is an “immediate” arrest warrant, issued by the High Priest, Caiaphas himself, stating that Jesus of Nazareth is to be picked up on site.
Steven: Speculations on how Jesus plans to get into the city range anywhere from having Jesus parachute in from a plane to being dressed as a peasant riding on the back of a donkey. However I have never heard of a “King” making his entrance in such a non-descript fashion.
You remember when Roman sent our latest Governor, Pontius Pilot. He road into town on a beautiful white horse that stood about 20 hands high with a procession of guards, that was 5 abreast and a mile long. Now that is how a “king” generally makes his entrance into his city!
Sharon: Well Steven, it’s been over a year or so, since Jesus was last in town, and I understand that he was holding open meetings in the Temple in that visit, teaching things that seemed to anger the majority of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Steven: Sharon, hold that thought! We need to break away to our man on the street Joseph Aria cloth, with breaking news about Jesus coming into the city. (Report of the Triumphal Entry – A Dramatization,youtube)[time 4.31]
Steven: Well Sharon, if anyone has ever had any doubts up to now about how Jesus of Nazareth, or his followers for that matter, see himself, it is now clear that Jesus is claiming to be the awaited Messiah, as based on the vision of the late Prophet Zechariah, found in his writings chapter 9:9. Yes, here it is, I now have the reference in front of me and it says: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
So, here you have it, Jesus has come into Jerusalem, riding a donkey!
Sharon: What a difference between how the Governor came into Jerusalem and this Jesus! Did you hear the sounds of the crowd, Steven? It sounds like they are having a regular parade. I don’t recall people yelling for joy like that when Pilot came riding into town! I wonder how that is going to affect Jesus’ standing with the authorities in the Temple. Do you suspect that this will mean that Caiaphas will be forced to drop the arrest warrant on Jesus?
Steven: That is truly a good question Sharon. If you remember a year or so ago, Herod had a very famous Prophet beheaded, even though this man had thousands of fans.
Sharon: You are referring to the prophet who lived out by the river Jordan, and wore camel clothing and lived off of locus and honey, John the baptizer. He was the man who was instituting the new practice of salvation by pushing people under those dirty waters of the Jordan. (Yuk) He was saying something about repenting of your sins so that you might enter into the kingdom of God. Now tell me Steven, how do you get your soul cleaned when you’re using such filthy water? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Steven: John the Baptizer wasn’t arrested and killed because of his instituting some new religious action, Sharon, but rather for his public accusations of the illicit marriage of Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias; who actually had been the wife of Antipas’ brother Herod Philip! Antipas was fearful of the truth turning the population against him.
Sharon: Well Steven, we don’t want to go there. You know how touchy the Herod’s can be. Isn’t it true that Jesus was baptized by John?
Steven: Yes he was Sharon. Did you know that they were cousins!
Sharon: Well, looks to me like religion must be a family business and maybe less of being a “Messiah”.
Steven: You might be correct there Sharon. Our sources have reported a number of interesting activities that this man Jesus has been involved in. There was this business of turning water into wine, at a wedding he and his mother and some of his disciples attended in Canaan. There have been multiple reports about him healing people who have been blind their entire life? As well as feeding huge crowds who went out into the wilderness to hear him speak, with only a couple of fish and some bread.
Sharon: Our sources have also reported some very unusual activities, such as Jesus is supposedly able to walk on water, even calming wild seas. But, the most amazing is a report that we received just this past week. While he was in Bethany, a sleepy little town just a couple of miles outside of Jerusalem, he is reported to have brought back to life a man known as Lazarus! Can you believe that! The reports just seem to get wilder by the day. I heard while I was getting my hair done, the beauticians talking, and saying that this Jesus guy says he is able to rebuild the temple in only three days!
Steven: I wonder how he thinks he will be able to do that, Sharon. Oh, Oh, hold on, we are just receiving a report that Jesus has been arrested by the Pharisees and is now having a hearing as we speak. In fact, we have just received some film footage of a portion of the trial with Herod. (play film clip of Herod and Jesus from 2000 Jesus Christ Superstar, youtube)
Steven: Sharon, we will come back to our program after this brief break for our Sponsors.
[Coming back to program]
Steven: This has to be one of the most amazing events that I have ever witnessed, Sharon. To have a trial directly after being captured is almost unheard of, especially with the backlog in the court system. Jesus of Nazareth is most certainly being treated as a serious threat to our National security!
Sharon: I just received a report during our break saying, that a well known Zealot, Barabbas, has been released by Governor Pilot, at the request of a crowd that has been standing outside the palace steps. Evidently there has been a large negative reaction to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and a number of citizens are demanding that Jesus be executed for not only his religious teachings, but for his consistently breaking the Sabbath law.
Steven: Yes Sharon, it is a well known fact that many of Jesus’ miracles seemed to happen on Sabbath. The last straw seemed to come when Jesus raised that Lazarus guy from the dead. Apparently the Pharisees had had enough with Jesus breaking the Sabbath Law and at that point put out a reward for his capture. Do we have any idea how Jesus was found?
Sharon: Again Steven, reports are sketchy and according to one of my sources in the Council of Pharisees, it was one of Jesus’ own disciples who turned him in. A man by the name of Judas Iscariot seems to have signed a claim voucher for 30 pieces of silver and lead authorities to a small garden just outside of Jerusalem. Seems he identified Jesus by giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Steven: Some friend he turned out to be. It would appear to me that Jesus isn’t a very good judge of character, when it comes to picking out friends and supporters.
This is unbelievable!
Sharon: I know what you mean Steven. I was just telling one of my friends during the commercial break....
Steven: No Sharon. I mean, I have just received another report indicating that Jesus has been sentenced to be executed at the hill outside of the city, known as Golgotha! I just can’t believe that a man who has been preaching about love and forgiveness is being murdered at the request of our Religious leaders. There has to be more to this man than what meets the eye.
Our camera crew is on their way out to Golgotha right now, but in the mean time, we have a written transcript from a man named Matthew with what is transpiring. Let me share it with you: (Matt 27: 45-54) 45-46From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
47-49Some bystanders who heard him said, "He's calling for Elijah." One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, "Don't be in such a hurry. Let's see if Elijah comes and saves him."
50But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What's more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)
54The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, "This has to be the Son of God!"
Even though time has run out for today, please stay tuned to this station for continuing reports of today’s most miraculous event! The capture and crucifixion of what will surely turn out to be one of Judah’s greatest Prophets, Jesus of Nazareth.
Sharon: Even the Romans are calling this man the “Son of God!” Steven what have we done in killing this man if he truly is the “Son of God?”
Steven: I don’t know Sharon. We will just have to keep watch as this story continues to unfold.
Thank you folks for watching us today, this is Steven Jacobs
Sharon: And this is Sharon Isaac, saying “Shalom for now”. Please join us next week on [both] JERUSALEM TODAY!
Palm Sunday Celebration Worship, "Jerusalem Today, 'Religious Rebellion'"
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY April 17, 2011
Dramatic Reading: Jerusalem Today!
With Anchors: Sharon Isaac and Steven Jacobs
Giving you the straight talk about, “what is going on in Jerusalem today!”
Sharon: Hello, I’m Sharon Isaac
Steven: And I’m Steven Jacobs
Unison: Reporting to you today from our downtown studio Mount of Olives Towers, located in the heart of Jerusalem.
Sharon: Today we continue our topic on Religious Rebellion! Steven, you are well aware of so much unrest among the citizens in Jerusalem and outlying areas with so many reported “self proclaimed prophets”, of late. Some are even being referred to as “Messiah’s”.
Steven: That is so right, Sharon and one of these “Isaiah come lately” is a man from up North in the province of Nazareth!
Sharon: Truly a Nazarene? Honestly, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Steven: That is a good question Sharon. Only time will be able to answer that one! This brings us to this morning’s focus on Religious Rebellion. Today’s discussion will be about the latest self-proclaimed Messiah, the man called Jesus of Nazareth! As I understand from one of our underground sources, this self-proclaimed prophet, will be making an appearance at the City Center Temple later today.
Sharon: That should create some excitement, for sure, Steven. Do we know yet how he plans to get into Jerusalem? I understand that all of the gates are under heavy guard, checking papers of everyone who is coming and going from the city. At last report, there is an “immediate” arrest warrant, issued by the High Priest, Caiaphas himself, stating that Jesus of Nazareth is to be picked up on site.
Steven: Speculations on how Jesus plans to get into the city range anywhere from having Jesus parachute in from a plane to being dressed as a peasant riding on the back of a donkey. However I have never heard of a “King” making his entrance in such a non-descript fashion.
You remember when Roman sent our latest Governor, Pontius Pilot. He road into town on a beautiful white horse that stood about 20 hands high with a procession of guards, that was 5 abreast and a mile long. Now that is how a “king” generally makes his entrance into his city!
Sharon: Well Steven, it’s been over a year or so, since Jesus was last in town, and I understand that he was holding open meetings in the Temple in that visit, teaching things that seemed to anger the majority of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Steven: Sharon, hold that thought! We need to break away to our man on the street Joseph Aria cloth, with breaking news about Jesus coming into the city. (Report of the Triumphal Entry – A Dramatization,youtube)[time 4.31]
Steven: Well Sharon, if anyone has ever had any doubts up to now about how Jesus of Nazareth, or his followers for that matter, see himself, it is now clear that Jesus is claiming to be the awaited Messiah, as based on the vision of the late Prophet Zechariah, found in his writings chapter 9:9. Yes, here it is, I now have the reference in front of me and it says: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
So, here you have it, Jesus has come into Jerusalem, riding a donkey!
Sharon: What a difference between how the Governor came into Jerusalem and this Jesus! Did you hear the sounds of the crowd, Steven? It sounds like they are having a regular parade. I don’t recall people yelling for joy like that when Pilot came riding into town! I wonder how that is going to affect Jesus’ standing with the authorities in the Temple. Do you suspect that this will mean that Caiaphas will be forced to drop the arrest warrant on Jesus?
Steven: That is truly a good question Sharon. If you remember a year or so ago, Herod had a very famous Prophet beheaded, even though this man had thousands of fans.
Sharon: You are referring to the prophet who lived out by the river Jordan, and wore camel clothing and lived off of locus and honey, John the baptizer. He was the man who was instituting the new practice of salvation by pushing people under those dirty waters of the Jordan. (Yuk) He was saying something about repenting of your sins so that you might enter into the kingdom of God. Now tell me Steven, how do you get your soul cleaned when you’re using such filthy water? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Steven: John the Baptizer wasn’t arrested and killed because of his instituting some new religious action, Sharon, but rather for his public accusations of the illicit marriage of Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias; who actually had been the wife of Antipas’ brother Herod Philip! Antipas was fearful of the truth turning the population against him.
Sharon: Well Steven, we don’t want to go there. You know how touchy the Herod’s can be. Isn’t it true that Jesus was baptized by John?
Steven: Yes he was Sharon. Did you know that they were cousins!
Sharon: Well, looks to me like religion must be a family business and maybe less of being a “Messiah”.
Steven: You might be correct there Sharon. Our sources have reported a number of interesting activities that this man Jesus has been involved in. There was this business of turning water into wine, at a wedding he and his mother and some of his disciples attended in Canaan. There have been multiple reports about him healing people who have been blind their entire life? As well as feeding huge crowds who went out into the wilderness to hear him speak, with only a couple of fish and some bread.
Sharon: Our sources have also reported some very unusual activities, such as Jesus is supposedly able to walk on water, even calming wild seas. But, the most amazing is a report that we received just this past week. While he was in Bethany, a sleepy little town just a couple of miles outside of Jerusalem, he is reported to have brought back to life a man known as Lazarus! Can you believe that! The reports just seem to get wilder by the day. I heard while I was getting my hair done, the beauticians talking, and saying that this Jesus guy says he is able to rebuild the temple in only three days!
Steven: I wonder how he thinks he will be able to do that, Sharon. Oh, Oh, hold on, we are just receiving a report that Jesus has been arrested by the Pharisees and is now having a hearing as we speak. In fact, we have just received some film footage of a portion of the trial with Herod. (play film clip of Herod and Jesus from 2000 Jesus Christ Superstar, youtube)
Steven: Sharon, we will come back to our program after this brief break for our Sponsors.
[Coming back to program]
Steven: This has to be one of the most amazing events that I have ever witnessed, Sharon. To have a trial directly after being captured is almost unheard of, especially with the backlog in the court system. Jesus of Nazareth is most certainly being treated as a serious threat to our National security!
Sharon: I just received a report during our break saying, that a well known Zealot, Barabbas, has been released by Governor Pilot, at the request of a crowd that has been standing outside the palace steps. Evidently there has been a large negative reaction to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and a number of citizens are demanding that Jesus be executed for not only his religious teachings, but for his consistently breaking the Sabbath law.
Steven: Yes Sharon, it is a well known fact that many of Jesus’ miracles seemed to happen on Sabbath. The last straw seemed to come when Jesus raised that Lazarus guy from the dead. Apparently the Pharisees had had enough with Jesus breaking the Sabbath Law and at that point put out a reward for his capture. Do we have any idea how Jesus was found?
Sharon: Again Steven, reports are sketchy and according to one of my sources in the Council of Pharisees, it was one of Jesus’ own disciples who turned him in. A man by the name of Judas Iscariot seems to have signed a claim voucher for 30 pieces of silver and lead authorities to a small garden just outside of Jerusalem. Seems he identified Jesus by giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Steven: Some friend he turned out to be. It would appear to me that Jesus isn’t a very good judge of character, when it comes to picking out friends and supporters.
This is unbelievable!
Sharon: I know what you mean Steven. I was just telling one of my friends during the commercial break....
Steven: No Sharon. I mean, I have just received another report indicating that Jesus has been sentenced to be executed at the hill outside of the city, known as Golgotha! I just can’t believe that a man who has been preaching about love and forgiveness is being murdered at the request of our Religious leaders. There has to be more to this man than what meets the eye.
Our camera crew is on their way out to Golgotha right now, but in the mean time, we have a written transcript from a man named Matthew with what is transpiring. Let me share it with you: (Matt 27: 45-54) 45-46From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
47-49Some bystanders who heard him said, "He's calling for Elijah." One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, "Don't be in such a hurry. Let's see if Elijah comes and saves him."
50But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What's more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)
54The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, "This has to be the Son of God!"
Even though time has run out for today, please stay tuned to this station for continuing reports of today’s most miraculous event! The capture and crucifixion of what will surely turn out to be one of Judah’s greatest Prophets, Jesus of Nazareth.
Sharon: Even the Romans are calling this man the “Son of God!” Steven what have we done in killing this man if he truly is the “Son of God?”
Steven: I don’t know Sharon. We will just have to keep watch as this story continues to unfold.
Thank you folks for watching us today, this is Steven Jacobs
Sharon: And this is Sharon Isaac, saying “Shalom for now”. Please join us next week on [both] JERUSALEM TODAY!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
I AM, "says so", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 4/10/2011
“I Am” Says So!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 4/10/2011
Based on Ezekiel 37:1-14 & John 11:1-45
We are just two weeks away from celebrating Easter Sunday! The day that we set aside for “praising” God and presenting Christ with the academy award for best “Savior” in his role of “Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God”! The scene that critics point to in giving this award is that of Jesus’ resurrection, specifically the scene where he comes to Mary at the empty tomb!
Yet in today’s lection readings we find two more “resurrection” stories. You might possibly have remembered the story of Jesus calling Lazarus out of the tomb, knowing of at least two resurrection stories, but were you aware of the story in Ezekiel, where God helped in the resurrection of those who had been dead for years in the valley of the bones?
In Western European culture, we tend to relegate skeletons to the celebration of Halloween. Yet today, two weeks before Easter Sunday, we are reading a story that deals with Halloween images. Resurrection is a difficult topic for the modern rational scientific mind, thus making the resurrection of Jesus a pretty hard thing to wrap our brain around. The raising of Lazarus from the tomb is also a hard sell, but at least a person could raise the question of whether Lazarus was actually dead, or did he just appear dead and they buried him by mistake and somehow Jesus was aware of this. But how do you reconcile this story of Ezekiel, where you have bones that are bleached by the sun, coming together, muscle and skin forming and then them breathing?
If I were talking to my mother about these two stories, she would probably tell me, “Steven, don’t fret over whether science can support these stories or not, after all, God is the creator of all life and as creator, God has the power to do things outside of the laws of this world. After all, we don’t understand all of the physical laws of this world and who’s to say that God isn’t using some science that we don’t know about yet? Just accept what you are reading as hard fact!”
My problem is, I can’t share in that type of trust and faith that my mother is able to read scripture with. I am more of a doubting Thomas, I am a product of my generation that says, the laws of the universe are constant and that all things have a predictable behavior, such as, when you’re dead, your physical body is forever dead.
Now, I do however believe that we have very little science that can quantify and explain what we call a spirit world, so I can at least ponder upon “spiritual” things more freely and with a simpler level of faith. Meaning, I can look at these two stories and look for meanings that do not conflict with hard physical science. People who tend to look at scripture more like I do would then call the account in Ezekiel at the very least a “Myth”. A myth is a story that doesn’t rely on the details as having to be factual, but use the story as a vehicle to present a “truth.”
So what is the common theme running through these two stories? In one story, we have a prophet who is lead by God out into a valley of bones, and is told by God to speak to these bones and tell them basically to come to life, which they do! In the other story we have Jesus, son of God, speaking to a dead man who has been buried for four days to come out of the tomb.
Well, for starters we are dealing with two groups of people who are in deep despair. Martha and Mary have lost their brother and are in the midst of deep grief, feeling that their world has come crashing down around them. We feel this when we lose someone who is very dear to us. For Martha and Mary, this may be more acute than just losing their brother. There is never any mention in scripture about either of them having a husband, so when Lazarus dies, they could possibly be looking at poverty, since they no longer have a male figure to defend and provide for their necessities.
For Ezekiel, the story reveals itself as speaking about the loss of the Israelites, as they had been captured and taken off to a foreign land, living in exile, and the temple, which in their culture say’s, “God lives in” has been destroyed. For those who Ezekiel was a prophet to, there was a feeling of defeat, of no hope, of no joy, a feeling of being dead!
So God directs Ezekiel out to this valley and tells him, speak to these bones and say to them come together, and then tell the breath, “enter into them” so that they might live. Ezekiel does all that God has directed him to do and these bones gather, become flesh and blood again and then come to life with the breath that God gave them. Then a pivotal verse at the end says, “I will put my spirit within you and you shall live.” Essential to the recovery of these dry bones is the spirit of God. It is the very breath of God that makes a difference in the life and death of the community. Karen Georgia Thompson, from Sermon Seeds, UCC
One more point is brought out by theologian, Dennis T. Olson as he emphasizes this aspect of the story: “The how of this amazing skeletal resurrection will be through the ‘breath’ (ruah) – spirit, wind, breath of the Lord which will enter these bones and give them life. And that breath of God will come through a human priest/prophet speaking the word of the Lord in ordinary human language.”
This past Monday, in the group of ministers that I have bible study with, the primary question raised was, “how do we as pastors inspire our congregants to deepen their relationship with God?” You see, most pastors hold high expectations for their congregations. We are naive enough to assume that if a person comes to Worship on Sunday morning that they want to deepen their relationship with God. This is true for some, but not for all.
As we look at this story and the story of Jesus raising Lazarus, both are men speaking the word of God which brings life. It is through speaking the “truth” of God, through the spoken word of God, that the breathe of life enters into a person whose soul has been filled with hopelessness, despair, possibly even death.
This is powerful stuff that we are hearing about this morning. We are hearing about the truth that “God gives us life”, not just in the hereafter, but here and now! It is a truth for those of us who harbor pain, and hurt, who feel violated by life itself, it is through speaking “God truth” to these bones that have become dead and dried up, that we can once again be filled with life, with hope, with joy. We live when God’s breathe has entered into our soul! This is what the meaning of resurrection is all about. We don’t have to be waiting until we die as Martha was professing to Jesus, but as Jesus showed with the raising of Lazarus, resurrection is now.
One last thing for us to think about, in both stories, this coming back to life, this gift of new life is for the enhancement of God, not for the benefit of those who were dead. Jesus prayed to God, saying that he was doing this in order that those who see will believe. It wasn’t for Lazarus’ sake that he was given back his life; it was so that God might be glorified.
We speak a lot about the mission of the church, or another way to say it is the life of the church. The life of the church isn’t for the purpose of its members. The life of the church isn’t for us to revel in, to enjoy for ourselves; rather the life of the church is to glorify God! The mission of the church is to help bring people into an active relationship with their creator. If we are expecting anything other than that then we are misguided in our purpose. Last week at communion I made the point that the communion table wasn’t our table, but God’s table. This church isn’t our church. This church is God’s church. Its success in its outreach will be determined by how much we allow God to breathe the Spirit into our body! Our life line is through the “saying so” of the, “I Am”! Amen.
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 4/10/2011
Based on Ezekiel 37:1-14 & John 11:1-45
We are just two weeks away from celebrating Easter Sunday! The day that we set aside for “praising” God and presenting Christ with the academy award for best “Savior” in his role of “Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God”! The scene that critics point to in giving this award is that of Jesus’ resurrection, specifically the scene where he comes to Mary at the empty tomb!
Yet in today’s lection readings we find two more “resurrection” stories. You might possibly have remembered the story of Jesus calling Lazarus out of the tomb, knowing of at least two resurrection stories, but were you aware of the story in Ezekiel, where God helped in the resurrection of those who had been dead for years in the valley of the bones?
In Western European culture, we tend to relegate skeletons to the celebration of Halloween. Yet today, two weeks before Easter Sunday, we are reading a story that deals with Halloween images. Resurrection is a difficult topic for the modern rational scientific mind, thus making the resurrection of Jesus a pretty hard thing to wrap our brain around. The raising of Lazarus from the tomb is also a hard sell, but at least a person could raise the question of whether Lazarus was actually dead, or did he just appear dead and they buried him by mistake and somehow Jesus was aware of this. But how do you reconcile this story of Ezekiel, where you have bones that are bleached by the sun, coming together, muscle and skin forming and then them breathing?
If I were talking to my mother about these two stories, she would probably tell me, “Steven, don’t fret over whether science can support these stories or not, after all, God is the creator of all life and as creator, God has the power to do things outside of the laws of this world. After all, we don’t understand all of the physical laws of this world and who’s to say that God isn’t using some science that we don’t know about yet? Just accept what you are reading as hard fact!”
My problem is, I can’t share in that type of trust and faith that my mother is able to read scripture with. I am more of a doubting Thomas, I am a product of my generation that says, the laws of the universe are constant and that all things have a predictable behavior, such as, when you’re dead, your physical body is forever dead.
Now, I do however believe that we have very little science that can quantify and explain what we call a spirit world, so I can at least ponder upon “spiritual” things more freely and with a simpler level of faith. Meaning, I can look at these two stories and look for meanings that do not conflict with hard physical science. People who tend to look at scripture more like I do would then call the account in Ezekiel at the very least a “Myth”. A myth is a story that doesn’t rely on the details as having to be factual, but use the story as a vehicle to present a “truth.”
So what is the common theme running through these two stories? In one story, we have a prophet who is lead by God out into a valley of bones, and is told by God to speak to these bones and tell them basically to come to life, which they do! In the other story we have Jesus, son of God, speaking to a dead man who has been buried for four days to come out of the tomb.
Well, for starters we are dealing with two groups of people who are in deep despair. Martha and Mary have lost their brother and are in the midst of deep grief, feeling that their world has come crashing down around them. We feel this when we lose someone who is very dear to us. For Martha and Mary, this may be more acute than just losing their brother. There is never any mention in scripture about either of them having a husband, so when Lazarus dies, they could possibly be looking at poverty, since they no longer have a male figure to defend and provide for their necessities.
For Ezekiel, the story reveals itself as speaking about the loss of the Israelites, as they had been captured and taken off to a foreign land, living in exile, and the temple, which in their culture say’s, “God lives in” has been destroyed. For those who Ezekiel was a prophet to, there was a feeling of defeat, of no hope, of no joy, a feeling of being dead!
So God directs Ezekiel out to this valley and tells him, speak to these bones and say to them come together, and then tell the breath, “enter into them” so that they might live. Ezekiel does all that God has directed him to do and these bones gather, become flesh and blood again and then come to life with the breath that God gave them. Then a pivotal verse at the end says, “I will put my spirit within you and you shall live.” Essential to the recovery of these dry bones is the spirit of God. It is the very breath of God that makes a difference in the life and death of the community. Karen Georgia Thompson, from Sermon Seeds, UCC
One more point is brought out by theologian, Dennis T. Olson as he emphasizes this aspect of the story: “The how of this amazing skeletal resurrection will be through the ‘breath’ (ruah) – spirit, wind, breath of the Lord which will enter these bones and give them life. And that breath of God will come through a human priest/prophet speaking the word of the Lord in ordinary human language.”
This past Monday, in the group of ministers that I have bible study with, the primary question raised was, “how do we as pastors inspire our congregants to deepen their relationship with God?” You see, most pastors hold high expectations for their congregations. We are naive enough to assume that if a person comes to Worship on Sunday morning that they want to deepen their relationship with God. This is true for some, but not for all.
As we look at this story and the story of Jesus raising Lazarus, both are men speaking the word of God which brings life. It is through speaking the “truth” of God, through the spoken word of God, that the breathe of life enters into a person whose soul has been filled with hopelessness, despair, possibly even death.
This is powerful stuff that we are hearing about this morning. We are hearing about the truth that “God gives us life”, not just in the hereafter, but here and now! It is a truth for those of us who harbor pain, and hurt, who feel violated by life itself, it is through speaking “God truth” to these bones that have become dead and dried up, that we can once again be filled with life, with hope, with joy. We live when God’s breathe has entered into our soul! This is what the meaning of resurrection is all about. We don’t have to be waiting until we die as Martha was professing to Jesus, but as Jesus showed with the raising of Lazarus, resurrection is now.
One last thing for us to think about, in both stories, this coming back to life, this gift of new life is for the enhancement of God, not for the benefit of those who were dead. Jesus prayed to God, saying that he was doing this in order that those who see will believe. It wasn’t for Lazarus’ sake that he was given back his life; it was so that God might be glorified.
We speak a lot about the mission of the church, or another way to say it is the life of the church. The life of the church isn’t for the purpose of its members. The life of the church isn’t for us to revel in, to enjoy for ourselves; rather the life of the church is to glorify God! The mission of the church is to help bring people into an active relationship with their creator. If we are expecting anything other than that then we are misguided in our purpose. Last week at communion I made the point that the communion table wasn’t our table, but God’s table. This church isn’t our church. This church is God’s church. Its success in its outreach will be determined by how much we allow God to breathe the Spirit into our body! Our life line is through the “saying so” of the, “I Am”! Amen.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Whose Disciple Are You?, Rev Steven R Mitchell, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY
Whose Disciple are You?
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 4/3/2011
Based on John 9:1-41
Back in the days when I was in Seminary, one of the activities that my class had to experience dealt with “sensory deprivation.” Two of those exercises we participated in consisted with variations in sight and sound. At one point we were blindfolded, then lead around by the hand, then we were pushed into a direction that the leader wanted us to go, and finally we were allowed to wonder around, unassisted.
A second exercise was being placed into a sound proof room, for a good ten to twenty minutes, being totally deprived of any sounds. At first you hear nothing, but eventually you begin to hear the pinning of molecules bumping into one another, so there is never a total void of sound. The purpose of these exercises is to give you, a potential care-giver some sense of what it is like to be a person living without the benefit of sight or sound. Once you have experienced one or more of your senses not being available to you, when you do come in contact with an individual who is living without sight, hearing, a leg or an arm, or any other physical limitation of their body, you become more sensitive to the challenges of a person in that situation.
In today’s Gospel reading, we learn about a man who from birth has not been able to see. Along comes Jesus, who recognizes this encounter with the blind man as a “teachable” moment for his disciples, by explaining to them that “sin” is not the reason for this man to be blind. What starts out to be a happy occasion for the man who is healed by Jesus, very quickly deteriorates into a tumultuous situation when he is presented to the Pharisees at the temple. He is badgered about his healing, with his testimony not being believed, even his character was being questioned.
It is almost like a scene out of the T.V. show, Perry Mason, where the Pharisee plays the part of District Attorney, Hamilton Burger, cross-examining Perry’s client, in this case the man who was blind, in order find some flaw in his story. Frustrated in not finding any change in the defendant’s testimony, the Pharisee changes tactics and tries to discrete this man standing before him, by attacking the witness’s character. He calls in the man’s parents and tries to get them to admit that their son has been lying about being blind his entire life. When this doesn’t work, the defendant is brought back in for further cross-examination and then the unthinkable happens, the defendant begins to accuse the Pharisee of being uninformed. Out of frustration, the defendant is dismissed from the court, and is also barred from every stepping foot back into the Synagogue. Not because he was guilty of a real crime, but rather, because he was seen to stand outside of what the Pharisees understand as truth. Their final accusation being, the defendant is a disciple of Jesus and they are disciples of Moses.
Today’s true focus isn’t in the actual healing of the man who was born blind, but rather a broader truth that centers on both “seeing” and “hearing”. If you go back and re-read the progression of this story, you will see where the man who is born blind moves from his first encounter with Jesus as being not able to see, of being in the dark. For the writer of John, being in the dark is very symbolic of not knowing “truth”. The man born blind, when being questioned the first time by the Pharisees, recognizes that the man who gave him sight must be a prophet. When being questioned a second time by the Pharisees and listening to their theological arguments about not knowing who Jesus was, the man born blind then moves into understanding that Jesus must be a man from God, as God does not honor the requests of “sinners”. Finally, when Jesus comes back to visit him, he knows that Jesus was the one who healed him, even though he was not able to see, he could hear and he recognizes Jesus’ voice and calls him “Lord” and falls down to worship him.
In the same progression of the story, the Pharisees are assumed to be able to see, to possess the truth, for they are disciples of Moses. This means that they follow the law, for it was through Moses that God gave the Israelites the pattern for living. Yet these men of the truth, are not able to recognize Jesus as being from God, they were unable to see who Jesus was because they did not recognize his voice! They never understood anything that Jesus said to them as coming from God, because they had stopped being open to new possibilities, the possibility that the true Messiah had indeed arrived.
We in the church have the potential to be like the Pharisees, of not able to hear the voice of Jesus, because at some point we came to stop being open to the ever speaking voice of God. What I learned as a child in Sunday school, which made sense to me then has become the stable truth for me. I learned as a child that God created the earth and all that lives on it, in just six days. It says so right in black and white. As an adult, I still read the same black and white, God created all of life in six days, but have I closed my mind and reject all sorts of scientific data that says, those days are not measured in 24hr increments or am I open enough to realize that God speaks in many ways and that the collective knowledge of science suggests that creation is more evolutionary than creature specific, and that the truths about God creating me might not be based on what I learned as a child?
Do we accuse an individual of not being a Christian because they do not conduct their life in the manor that we have decided to be consistent with our understanding of Jesus’ teachings? Do we shun people who are not at our level of education or economic standards? There are many ways in which the church is blind and does not recognize Jesus, because we have become closed and unable to hear the voice of Christ.
Are we disciples of Moses, living and judging life by a standard that was giving thousands of years ago, or are we like the man who was born blind and received sight in a non-conventional way, open to hearing the ever still speaking God?
As we come to this communion table this morning, are we coming as Disciples of Moses, worshiping a stagnate God, or do we come this morning, recognizing Jesus’ voice and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, which was sent to guide and to comfort us, as Disciples of Christ? For us to recognize the Still Speaking God, we must have an open and active relationship with Christ! Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 4/3/2011
Based on John 9:1-41
Back in the days when I was in Seminary, one of the activities that my class had to experience dealt with “sensory deprivation.” Two of those exercises we participated in consisted with variations in sight and sound. At one point we were blindfolded, then lead around by the hand, then we were pushed into a direction that the leader wanted us to go, and finally we were allowed to wonder around, unassisted.
A second exercise was being placed into a sound proof room, for a good ten to twenty minutes, being totally deprived of any sounds. At first you hear nothing, but eventually you begin to hear the pinning of molecules bumping into one another, so there is never a total void of sound. The purpose of these exercises is to give you, a potential care-giver some sense of what it is like to be a person living without the benefit of sight or sound. Once you have experienced one or more of your senses not being available to you, when you do come in contact with an individual who is living without sight, hearing, a leg or an arm, or any other physical limitation of their body, you become more sensitive to the challenges of a person in that situation.
In today’s Gospel reading, we learn about a man who from birth has not been able to see. Along comes Jesus, who recognizes this encounter with the blind man as a “teachable” moment for his disciples, by explaining to them that “sin” is not the reason for this man to be blind. What starts out to be a happy occasion for the man who is healed by Jesus, very quickly deteriorates into a tumultuous situation when he is presented to the Pharisees at the temple. He is badgered about his healing, with his testimony not being believed, even his character was being questioned.
It is almost like a scene out of the T.V. show, Perry Mason, where the Pharisee plays the part of District Attorney, Hamilton Burger, cross-examining Perry’s client, in this case the man who was blind, in order find some flaw in his story. Frustrated in not finding any change in the defendant’s testimony, the Pharisee changes tactics and tries to discrete this man standing before him, by attacking the witness’s character. He calls in the man’s parents and tries to get them to admit that their son has been lying about being blind his entire life. When this doesn’t work, the defendant is brought back in for further cross-examination and then the unthinkable happens, the defendant begins to accuse the Pharisee of being uninformed. Out of frustration, the defendant is dismissed from the court, and is also barred from every stepping foot back into the Synagogue. Not because he was guilty of a real crime, but rather, because he was seen to stand outside of what the Pharisees understand as truth. Their final accusation being, the defendant is a disciple of Jesus and they are disciples of Moses.
Today’s true focus isn’t in the actual healing of the man who was born blind, but rather a broader truth that centers on both “seeing” and “hearing”. If you go back and re-read the progression of this story, you will see where the man who is born blind moves from his first encounter with Jesus as being not able to see, of being in the dark. For the writer of John, being in the dark is very symbolic of not knowing “truth”. The man born blind, when being questioned the first time by the Pharisees, recognizes that the man who gave him sight must be a prophet. When being questioned a second time by the Pharisees and listening to their theological arguments about not knowing who Jesus was, the man born blind then moves into understanding that Jesus must be a man from God, as God does not honor the requests of “sinners”. Finally, when Jesus comes back to visit him, he knows that Jesus was the one who healed him, even though he was not able to see, he could hear and he recognizes Jesus’ voice and calls him “Lord” and falls down to worship him.
In the same progression of the story, the Pharisees are assumed to be able to see, to possess the truth, for they are disciples of Moses. This means that they follow the law, for it was through Moses that God gave the Israelites the pattern for living. Yet these men of the truth, are not able to recognize Jesus as being from God, they were unable to see who Jesus was because they did not recognize his voice! They never understood anything that Jesus said to them as coming from God, because they had stopped being open to new possibilities, the possibility that the true Messiah had indeed arrived.
We in the church have the potential to be like the Pharisees, of not able to hear the voice of Jesus, because at some point we came to stop being open to the ever speaking voice of God. What I learned as a child in Sunday school, which made sense to me then has become the stable truth for me. I learned as a child that God created the earth and all that lives on it, in just six days. It says so right in black and white. As an adult, I still read the same black and white, God created all of life in six days, but have I closed my mind and reject all sorts of scientific data that says, those days are not measured in 24hr increments or am I open enough to realize that God speaks in many ways and that the collective knowledge of science suggests that creation is more evolutionary than creature specific, and that the truths about God creating me might not be based on what I learned as a child?
Do we accuse an individual of not being a Christian because they do not conduct their life in the manor that we have decided to be consistent with our understanding of Jesus’ teachings? Do we shun people who are not at our level of education or economic standards? There are many ways in which the church is blind and does not recognize Jesus, because we have become closed and unable to hear the voice of Christ.
Are we disciples of Moses, living and judging life by a standard that was giving thousands of years ago, or are we like the man who was born blind and received sight in a non-conventional way, open to hearing the ever still speaking God?
As we come to this communion table this morning, are we coming as Disciples of Moses, worshiping a stagnate God, or do we come this morning, recognizing Jesus’ voice and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, which was sent to guide and to comfort us, as Disciples of Christ? For us to recognize the Still Speaking God, we must have an open and active relationship with Christ! Amen
Monday, March 28, 2011
"Thirsty Voices", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 3/27/2011
Thirsty Voices
By Rev Steven R. Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 3/27/2011
Based on Exodus 17:1-7 & John 4:5-42
This past Wednesday, one of Hollywood’s greatest and larger than life actors passed away, Elizabeth Taylor, at age 79. Quoting from DAVID GERMAIN and HILLEL ITALIE, Associated Press: Taylor was the most blessed and cursed of actresses, the toughest and the most vulnerable. She had extraordinary grace, wealth and voluptuous beauty, and won three Academy Awards, including a special one for her humanitarian work. Taylor was the most loyal of friends and a defender of gays in Hollywood when AIDS was new to the industry and beyond. Mss. Taylor was personally afflicted by ill health, failed romances (eight marriages, seven husbands) and personal tragedy. Her troubles bonded her to her peers and the public, and deepened her compassion. Her advocacy for AIDS research and for other causes earned her a special Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1993. As she accepted it, to a long ovation, she declared, "I call upon you to draw from the depths of your being — to prove that we are a human race, to prove that our love outweighs our need to hate, that our compassion is more compelling than our need to blame."
In an interview around the time Liz was turning 50, she said, "I don't entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have been. But I'm me. God knows, I'm me," Whether we approve, or disapprove of the life that Mss Taylor lived, there is much to be learn by her on how to face life’s adversities and be a survivor, of how one picks themselves up and moves forward after making mistakes, of being a courageous voice in social justice issues when it isn’t popular, and of living life to its fullest.
As I read through this morning’s Gospel lesson, I can almost substitute Elizabeth Taylor for the woman that Jesus has encountered at the well. Both women seem to mirror so much of the other’s life style. Both had had multiple husbands, neither seemed uncomfortable in stepping out of the usual roles and norms of their day, especially when it comes to encountering men. Both could be said to have, “Thirsty Voices”, not only easily speaking their minds, but also in seeking answers about life’s deepest questions.
The woman whom Jesus encountered understands the inequality of those who seem to hold the power and those who do not as she says to Jesus, “Our ancestors (also children of Abraham) worshipped on this mountain, but you (the Jewish religion) say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Liz Taylor pleaded with Christians at the onset of AID’s, “— to prove that we are a human race, to prove that our love outweighs our need to hate, that our compassion is more compelling than our need to blame.”
As I was trying to map out today’s text with what I most wish to share with you, the most obvious theme deals with “sustainability”, both physical and spiritual sustainability. Looking at the Exodus story, we read where the Israelites are fearful of dying due to the lack of water, one of life’s necessities. With the woman at the well, water is again the focus of discussion. Next, the Disciples come along and they are worried about food, again a basic need in order to sustain physical life.
In Exodus, with the Moses story, you have a group of refugee’s wondering about in a dessert, finding themselves in a place where there is no water. This could be a metaphor about finding oneself at the end of their rope and not knowing what to do next. Moses goes to God and asks for help, telling God that his people are very unhappy with the way things are playing out – after all, they left their lives in Egypt where they might have been slaves, working dead end jobs, and had no hope, but at least they had water to drink and some food to eat; now they are out in the wilderness with no food, no water, and seemingly no hope! They are asking, “Is the LORD among us or not?” They are at the end of their rope.
In the encounter with the woman at the well, she too is at a point in her life, where things probably haven’t panned out the way she had hoped. She was not looked upon by the other women with any positive feelings, exhibited by her being at the well by herself at noon, when the rest of the women would have been at the well early in the morning, before the heat of the day. She was probably not respected by the men of the town, as she seemed to run through men like sand in an hour glass. In fact, she was not married to the man she was currently living with.
Through the discussion of water with Jesus, we see that this woman was able to comprehend that what was needed in her life was something deeper than just the basic physical necessities of life. The disciples on the other hand were not so quick on the upbeat, requiring Jesus to explain to them that the discussion about food was that of a spiritual matter.
Although the theme about spiritual sustainability is the obvious theme, there is a more subtle lesson being provided. It is the theme of being aware and able to recognize the blessings that we receive in our daily living, of being open enough to receive those gifts from God, of receiving God’s life giving water.
I would like to present this point in a most poignant video about the problems with receptiveness due to first impressions. Show Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle’s performance.
I started out this morning’s sermon with giving tribute to one of Hollywood’s most physically voluptuous women, next I talked about a woman who lived on the edge of society, and then ended with a woman who was frumpy looking in appearance. All three of these women have given the world tremendous gifts, one through activism and film, another with her music. The message of “living water” came to a Samaritan town through a woman who was the most unlikely person to deliver a message about the “love” and “saving” grace of God. The town’s people heard her testimony about this man Jesus and went out to see for themselves. In the story in Exodus, through Moses’ pleas with God, the “life giving water” came to the Israelites from taking a rod and striking a rock.
The purpose of these stories is to remind us that God is always here! We need to be open, we need to be receptive of what gifts God wants to bestow upon us. These gifts are many times presented in the most unassuming manor. If Susan Boyle’s had accepted the initial audiences rejection and left the stage without singing, we would have never been able to be blessed by such a beautiful voice, a voice that speaks to the very core of one’s soul. If the Samaritan’s had not been receptive to this woman who normally was censured, they would have not heard Jesus’ message. If the woman at the well had not been willing to enter into a conversation with a stranger, who was breaking all the social rules of the day, she would never have been able to accept the Good News that was in front of her. We need to be aware that we are a people thirsting for the living water that only comes through Spirit, to Spirit. We like the Israelites, experiencing God’s miracles one after another, truly are Thirsty voices in the wilderness of our journey! Amen
By Rev Steven R. Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 3/27/2011
Based on Exodus 17:1-7 & John 4:5-42
This past Wednesday, one of Hollywood’s greatest and larger than life actors passed away, Elizabeth Taylor, at age 79. Quoting from DAVID GERMAIN and HILLEL ITALIE, Associated Press: Taylor was the most blessed and cursed of actresses, the toughest and the most vulnerable. She had extraordinary grace, wealth and voluptuous beauty, and won three Academy Awards, including a special one for her humanitarian work. Taylor was the most loyal of friends and a defender of gays in Hollywood when AIDS was new to the industry and beyond. Mss. Taylor was personally afflicted by ill health, failed romances (eight marriages, seven husbands) and personal tragedy. Her troubles bonded her to her peers and the public, and deepened her compassion. Her advocacy for AIDS research and for other causes earned her a special Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1993. As she accepted it, to a long ovation, she declared, "I call upon you to draw from the depths of your being — to prove that we are a human race, to prove that our love outweighs our need to hate, that our compassion is more compelling than our need to blame."
In an interview around the time Liz was turning 50, she said, "I don't entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have been. But I'm me. God knows, I'm me," Whether we approve, or disapprove of the life that Mss Taylor lived, there is much to be learn by her on how to face life’s adversities and be a survivor, of how one picks themselves up and moves forward after making mistakes, of being a courageous voice in social justice issues when it isn’t popular, and of living life to its fullest.
As I read through this morning’s Gospel lesson, I can almost substitute Elizabeth Taylor for the woman that Jesus has encountered at the well. Both women seem to mirror so much of the other’s life style. Both had had multiple husbands, neither seemed uncomfortable in stepping out of the usual roles and norms of their day, especially when it comes to encountering men. Both could be said to have, “Thirsty Voices”, not only easily speaking their minds, but also in seeking answers about life’s deepest questions.
The woman whom Jesus encountered understands the inequality of those who seem to hold the power and those who do not as she says to Jesus, “Our ancestors (also children of Abraham) worshipped on this mountain, but you (the Jewish religion) say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Liz Taylor pleaded with Christians at the onset of AID’s, “— to prove that we are a human race, to prove that our love outweighs our need to hate, that our compassion is more compelling than our need to blame.”
As I was trying to map out today’s text with what I most wish to share with you, the most obvious theme deals with “sustainability”, both physical and spiritual sustainability. Looking at the Exodus story, we read where the Israelites are fearful of dying due to the lack of water, one of life’s necessities. With the woman at the well, water is again the focus of discussion. Next, the Disciples come along and they are worried about food, again a basic need in order to sustain physical life.
In Exodus, with the Moses story, you have a group of refugee’s wondering about in a dessert, finding themselves in a place where there is no water. This could be a metaphor about finding oneself at the end of their rope and not knowing what to do next. Moses goes to God and asks for help, telling God that his people are very unhappy with the way things are playing out – after all, they left their lives in Egypt where they might have been slaves, working dead end jobs, and had no hope, but at least they had water to drink and some food to eat; now they are out in the wilderness with no food, no water, and seemingly no hope! They are asking, “Is the LORD among us or not?” They are at the end of their rope.
In the encounter with the woman at the well, she too is at a point in her life, where things probably haven’t panned out the way she had hoped. She was not looked upon by the other women with any positive feelings, exhibited by her being at the well by herself at noon, when the rest of the women would have been at the well early in the morning, before the heat of the day. She was probably not respected by the men of the town, as she seemed to run through men like sand in an hour glass. In fact, she was not married to the man she was currently living with.
Through the discussion of water with Jesus, we see that this woman was able to comprehend that what was needed in her life was something deeper than just the basic physical necessities of life. The disciples on the other hand were not so quick on the upbeat, requiring Jesus to explain to them that the discussion about food was that of a spiritual matter.
Although the theme about spiritual sustainability is the obvious theme, there is a more subtle lesson being provided. It is the theme of being aware and able to recognize the blessings that we receive in our daily living, of being open enough to receive those gifts from God, of receiving God’s life giving water.
I would like to present this point in a most poignant video about the problems with receptiveness due to first impressions. Show Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle’s performance.
I started out this morning’s sermon with giving tribute to one of Hollywood’s most physically voluptuous women, next I talked about a woman who lived on the edge of society, and then ended with a woman who was frumpy looking in appearance. All three of these women have given the world tremendous gifts, one through activism and film, another with her music. The message of “living water” came to a Samaritan town through a woman who was the most unlikely person to deliver a message about the “love” and “saving” grace of God. The town’s people heard her testimony about this man Jesus and went out to see for themselves. In the story in Exodus, through Moses’ pleas with God, the “life giving water” came to the Israelites from taking a rod and striking a rock.
The purpose of these stories is to remind us that God is always here! We need to be open, we need to be receptive of what gifts God wants to bestow upon us. These gifts are many times presented in the most unassuming manor. If Susan Boyle’s had accepted the initial audiences rejection and left the stage without singing, we would have never been able to be blessed by such a beautiful voice, a voice that speaks to the very core of one’s soul. If the Samaritan’s had not been receptive to this woman who normally was censured, they would have not heard Jesus’ message. If the woman at the well had not been willing to enter into a conversation with a stranger, who was breaking all the social rules of the day, she would never have been able to accept the Good News that was in front of her. We need to be aware that we are a people thirsting for the living water that only comes through Spirit, to Spirit. We like the Israelites, experiencing God’s miracles one after another, truly are Thirsty voices in the wilderness of our journey! Amen
When Did Temptation become so Bad?, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 3/13/2011
When Did Temptation become So Bad?
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 3/13/2011
Based on Matthew 4:1-11
Have any of you ever found yourself in a situation where a choice that would be life altering had to be made? The great poet Robert Frost wrote about such a situation in his poem, The Road Not Taken.
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
A widely held interpretation, by critics, is that the poem is about making personal choices and rationalizing our decisions, whether with pride or with regret. With the last two lines telling us, that the speaker was a courageous nonconformist in taking a road few other people had taken.
This morning’s Gospel reading could most certainly point to the actions of Jesus as a person who chose to take the road less traveled. Yet according to Mr. Frost, the poem is intended as a gentle jab at his great friend and fellow poet Edward Thomas, with whom he used to take walks through the forest (Thomas always complained at the end that they should have taken a different path), those always thinking that the “other” path might have been the better choice. Wikipedia
On Friday, June 19, 1953, at 9:15 a.m., I embarked on a most incredible journey; it was the day that I breathed my first breath of air on this planet. It has been a journey filled with much learning; a journey filled with much emotional and physical development; a journey that has had no real road map to follow, other than by advice freely given and by advice personally sought out, as well as by examples of those who have preceded me in their own journey of life! It has been a journey filled with choices, and with all of this wonderful advice that I have received, examined, weighted and either rejected or implemented, do you know what I have discovered? I have discovered that I have managed to make a few mistakes along the way! Imagine that, with all this marvelous help, I would actually have had the audacity to have made one or two, or three, or maybe thousands of wrong choices in my journey.
Rod Roddenberry, the creator of the famed Star Trek series, managed to sum up my whole life, past, present and I’m sure future. He says of my life: Going where no man has gone before! Have any of you ever felt as if, your life has gone where no other person’s life has gone before? That the choices you have made have sometimes been the wrong decisions? I hope so, otherwise, you are probably not human, but maybe a Klingon or some other life form.
This morning’s lectionary readings are dealing with standing at a cross road and making decisions. The process that we go through in making a decision is by examining as many differing outcomes that we can think of and basing our decision on the results of this process. We call this process, discernment. Another word that could be substituted for discernment is the word, “temptation.”
Today’s scripture readings focus on Temptations and the result of choices made, due to specific temptations. The first temptation that we read in scripture occurs in the Garden of Eden. The story line tells us that if Adam and Eve ever eat the fruit from the tree in the center of the garden, they would end up dying. As the story goes, Eve has a lengthy conversation with a serpent discussing (which is one of the tools we use in the discernment process) whether what God had told them was really truth or was God just saying things in order to keep them under control. When did the word “temptation” become a negative meaning? Is not this word just another part of the process that we use as we try to go through a discernment process?
Have you ever wondered when Jesus truly realizes that He is the Son of God? Was it at his baptism or later in his journey? After Jesus was baptized, was he ready to take on the mission of His ministry or did he need time to think about how that ministry was going to look like; of how he was going to shape his ministry? We read that Jesus needs time to figure things out and goes off into the wilderness for 40 days in order to go through a discernment process. Scripture uses the word “temptation” to describe events that Jesus had during that time.
I would like to share with you a dramatization of this event that helps put some meat onto today’s reading. (You tube: The Temptation of Jesus by the Devil in the Wilderness 8:51 min
I asked at the beginning of this sermon if, anyone of you has ever had to make a decision that was “life altering.” A decision where you had to spend time by yourself, in quiet contemplation, thinking of all the implications of your next step in your journey in life? Did it look a little like what Jesus was being faced with while in the dessert for those forty days?
As we go through the next 41 days of lent, take some quiet time out for yourselves and face some temptations that might be life changing for you and in doing so, remember how Jesus dealt with His dessert voices. Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 3/13/2011
Based on Matthew 4:1-11
Have any of you ever found yourself in a situation where a choice that would be life altering had to be made? The great poet Robert Frost wrote about such a situation in his poem, The Road Not Taken.
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
A widely held interpretation, by critics, is that the poem is about making personal choices and rationalizing our decisions, whether with pride or with regret. With the last two lines telling us, that the speaker was a courageous nonconformist in taking a road few other people had taken.
This morning’s Gospel reading could most certainly point to the actions of Jesus as a person who chose to take the road less traveled. Yet according to Mr. Frost, the poem is intended as a gentle jab at his great friend and fellow poet Edward Thomas, with whom he used to take walks through the forest (Thomas always complained at the end that they should have taken a different path), those always thinking that the “other” path might have been the better choice. Wikipedia
On Friday, June 19, 1953, at 9:15 a.m., I embarked on a most incredible journey; it was the day that I breathed my first breath of air on this planet. It has been a journey filled with much learning; a journey filled with much emotional and physical development; a journey that has had no real road map to follow, other than by advice freely given and by advice personally sought out, as well as by examples of those who have preceded me in their own journey of life! It has been a journey filled with choices, and with all of this wonderful advice that I have received, examined, weighted and either rejected or implemented, do you know what I have discovered? I have discovered that I have managed to make a few mistakes along the way! Imagine that, with all this marvelous help, I would actually have had the audacity to have made one or two, or three, or maybe thousands of wrong choices in my journey.
Rod Roddenberry, the creator of the famed Star Trek series, managed to sum up my whole life, past, present and I’m sure future. He says of my life: Going where no man has gone before! Have any of you ever felt as if, your life has gone where no other person’s life has gone before? That the choices you have made have sometimes been the wrong decisions? I hope so, otherwise, you are probably not human, but maybe a Klingon or some other life form.
This morning’s lectionary readings are dealing with standing at a cross road and making decisions. The process that we go through in making a decision is by examining as many differing outcomes that we can think of and basing our decision on the results of this process. We call this process, discernment. Another word that could be substituted for discernment is the word, “temptation.”
Today’s scripture readings focus on Temptations and the result of choices made, due to specific temptations. The first temptation that we read in scripture occurs in the Garden of Eden. The story line tells us that if Adam and Eve ever eat the fruit from the tree in the center of the garden, they would end up dying. As the story goes, Eve has a lengthy conversation with a serpent discussing (which is one of the tools we use in the discernment process) whether what God had told them was really truth or was God just saying things in order to keep them under control. When did the word “temptation” become a negative meaning? Is not this word just another part of the process that we use as we try to go through a discernment process?
Have you ever wondered when Jesus truly realizes that He is the Son of God? Was it at his baptism or later in his journey? After Jesus was baptized, was he ready to take on the mission of His ministry or did he need time to think about how that ministry was going to look like; of how he was going to shape his ministry? We read that Jesus needs time to figure things out and goes off into the wilderness for 40 days in order to go through a discernment process. Scripture uses the word “temptation” to describe events that Jesus had during that time.
I would like to share with you a dramatization of this event that helps put some meat onto today’s reading. (You tube: The Temptation of Jesus by the Devil in the Wilderness 8:51 min
I asked at the beginning of this sermon if, anyone of you has ever had to make a decision that was “life altering.” A decision where you had to spend time by yourself, in quiet contemplation, thinking of all the implications of your next step in your journey in life? Did it look a little like what Jesus was being faced with while in the dessert for those forty days?
As we go through the next 41 days of lent, take some quiet time out for yourselves and face some temptations that might be life changing for you and in doing so, remember how Jesus dealt with His dessert voices. Amen
Monday, March 7, 2011
Victorious Living through Christ pt6 "When God Is Revealed", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY
Victorious Living through Christ pt 6
“When God is revealed”
First Congregational UCC & (Mt of Olives Lutheran), Rock Springs, WY 3/6/2011
Based on Exodus 24:12-18 & Matthew 17:1-9
This is the last Sunday of Epiphany, and this coming Wednesday we start the long journey to the Hill of Golgotha, as we celebrate Ash Wednesday; the official start of the Lenten season. The whole season of Epiphany has been one of “revealing” to the world who Jesus was and what his mission on earth was about. This mission of course was to reveal the Glory of God to a world that so frequently loses sight and to let the world know the depth of love God has for us.
One of the definitions of Epiphany is: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple commonplace occurrence or experience. Scripture is filled with many “epiphanies”. One such epiphany occurred with Moses as he encountered God on the top of Mount Sinai, and waited for the Tablets that contained the Law, as read from the book of Exodus this morning.
Another epiphany came by way of three outsiders of the Hebrew race; we call the ‘wise men’ or ‘kings of the East’. As the three men approached Jerusalem looking for the new born king of Israel, Herod had a new understanding of his limited reign and lack of knowledge of God’s plans, as laid out in scripture.
This morning’s reading in Matthew speaks of the most dramatic epiphany to date in the lives of Peter, James, and John, as they travel up the mountain with Jesus, leaving the rest of the disciples at their camp. While they were up on the mountain, a great light suddenly appeared around them, and they saw Jesus enveloped completely within this light. Then they saw both Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus; Jesus seemed to be having a conversation with them both. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Then as Jesus and the three disciples start their way down from the mountain, Jesus tells them, “not to say anything about what they had witnessed until after he has been raised from the dead.”
Over the life of the Christian Church, we have come to know this story as the “Transfiguration of Christ!” As I read and re-read this story of what happened on this mountain top, I come away with a lot of questions. Questions such as: Why did Jesus only take Peter, James and John on this particular journey? Why was it Moses and Elijah who appeared and spoke with Jesus, and not God personally? Why did God think it necessary to speak to the three disciples during this occurrence, and once again say how “pleased” Jesus has made God and that the disciples needed to “listen to what Jesus tells them?” And why did Jesus want these guys to keep silent about what they had witnessed until after his death and resurrection?
Last weekend, Jonathan Firme and I, spent our time with 40 Confirmands at our conference retreat center, La Foret, located near Colorado Springs. The major focus of this time together, was to help the youth explore various images of God, and to give them permission to start expanding their concepts of what God looks like, and to ignite their interest of asking questions of how God works in their life’s.
At one of the secessions the story of Jesus’ first miracle was discussed; another epiphany story. In the story, Jesus, his disciples and his mother were guests at a wedding banquet, where the wine starts to run short. Jesus’ mother urges Jesus to take care of this problem. Jesus is not willing to help, so being a good Jewish mother, Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Being forced into dealing with this problem, Jesus then directs the servants to fill ceremonial barrels with water, then to take a pitcher of water from one of the barrels to the host where at that point the water had become wine. Jesus did all this while staying seated. After the wedding, Jesus then tells his disciples that they will perform greater miracles than that. That story has stayed with me during this week as well as the question that I posed to the group at large and then again to the three confirmands that went from this church, “What type of miracles can we recognize that we have either already preformed or are able to perform that are greater than what Jesus has done?” After all, as a minister, I have yet to turn water into wine. I have never been able to walk on water, and I have yet to heal anyone or bring someone back from the dead. So what miracle am I as a disciple of Christ able to do that by Jesus’ standard would be greater than what he did during his ministry?
That is a question that I am going to let you struggle to find the answer, as I think it is a personal question and only you will be able to find the answer for yourself.
Many times the epiphanies in our lives’ come through what we would call a mountain top experience. For the three disciples it came with Moses and Elijah visiting with Jesus. I think the reason why Moses and Elijah are the two visiting with Jesus, is Moses was the one who brought Israel up out of Egypt, out of slavery and has always been referred to as their redeemer; Elijah is representative of the prophet who never died, but rather was taken up to God in the firer chariot. So in this mountain top experience you have the giver of the law from God and the prophet who was delivered from death and was expected to return before the messiah came, thus a fulfillment of the prophet writings.
I have been preaching a sermon series called, Victorious living through Jesus, which is based on the AA 12 step program. This week I am combining step 6, “Being entirely ready to have God remove all the defects of character” and step 7, “Humbly asking Him to remove our shortcomings.” You might ask where does this figure into the story of Jesus’ transfiguration.
I would like to share with you a conversation that I had early in my week with my secretary. We entered into a discussion on the topic of “faith” versus “knowing”. For some people, faith is good enough in order to move forward in their walk with God. For others, those I like to call, concrete thinkers, those who need actual proof in order to believe in God, like doubting Thomas, faith just leaves too much of a gap to believe in. When Thomas was finally able to put his hands into Jesus’ wounds, he then was able to believe, this was Thomas’ epiphany, and this was the point where Thomas was able to ask Jesus to remove his shortcoming of “doubt.”
Peter, James and John all three had a physical encounter with an event that most likely took away any doubt about who Jesus was. My personal epiphany came at 32,000 feet when I had an audible encounter with God, which I have shared with some of you; and from this encounter, there is no doubt in my mind about the degree of love that God has for me. There will be people who will say, my experience can be explained by the lack of oxygen being so high in the atmosphere. It doesn’t matter whether anyone believes what my experience was, because for me it has moved me from operating beyond faith into the understanding of a fact, and it took away my defect which was in doubting the love of God for who I am. I think the reason why Jesus told Peter, James and John not to say anything about what they experienced until after Jesus died and was resurrected was because, no one would have believed them before hand. Possibly, they were still in disbelief.
The point of an epiphany is that through a new revelation, or perspective of life, we are able to move forward in a way that we would not be able to do prior to that epiphany. Before we are able to ask God to remove those things within our lives that keep us from moving forward in our lives, allowing us to become successful in our spiritual walk with God, we need to have our own personal epiphany; our own transfigurational event.
I would like to share a prayer that I have used many times that I think can help us put into perspective the concept of living our life in a transfigurational understanding. It goes like this: Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger women and men. Do not pray for tasks equal to our powers, but for power equal to our tasks. Then the doing of our work will be no miracle – we will be the miracle. Every day we will wonder at ourselves and the richness of life which has come to us by the grace of God. The epiphany found in Christ is that we go beyond whom we are and with the help of God, we are able to overcome many adversities in our life when we let God take away those things that hold us back, and we then become the miracle, which becomes the blessing to this world. Amen
“When God is revealed”
First Congregational UCC & (Mt of Olives Lutheran), Rock Springs, WY 3/6/2011
Based on Exodus 24:12-18 & Matthew 17:1-9
This is the last Sunday of Epiphany, and this coming Wednesday we start the long journey to the Hill of Golgotha, as we celebrate Ash Wednesday; the official start of the Lenten season. The whole season of Epiphany has been one of “revealing” to the world who Jesus was and what his mission on earth was about. This mission of course was to reveal the Glory of God to a world that so frequently loses sight and to let the world know the depth of love God has for us.
One of the definitions of Epiphany is: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple commonplace occurrence or experience. Scripture is filled with many “epiphanies”. One such epiphany occurred with Moses as he encountered God on the top of Mount Sinai, and waited for the Tablets that contained the Law, as read from the book of Exodus this morning.
Another epiphany came by way of three outsiders of the Hebrew race; we call the ‘wise men’ or ‘kings of the East’. As the three men approached Jerusalem looking for the new born king of Israel, Herod had a new understanding of his limited reign and lack of knowledge of God’s plans, as laid out in scripture.
This morning’s reading in Matthew speaks of the most dramatic epiphany to date in the lives of Peter, James, and John, as they travel up the mountain with Jesus, leaving the rest of the disciples at their camp. While they were up on the mountain, a great light suddenly appeared around them, and they saw Jesus enveloped completely within this light. Then they saw both Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus; Jesus seemed to be having a conversation with them both. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Then as Jesus and the three disciples start their way down from the mountain, Jesus tells them, “not to say anything about what they had witnessed until after he has been raised from the dead.”
Over the life of the Christian Church, we have come to know this story as the “Transfiguration of Christ!” As I read and re-read this story of what happened on this mountain top, I come away with a lot of questions. Questions such as: Why did Jesus only take Peter, James and John on this particular journey? Why was it Moses and Elijah who appeared and spoke with Jesus, and not God personally? Why did God think it necessary to speak to the three disciples during this occurrence, and once again say how “pleased” Jesus has made God and that the disciples needed to “listen to what Jesus tells them?” And why did Jesus want these guys to keep silent about what they had witnessed until after his death and resurrection?
Last weekend, Jonathan Firme and I, spent our time with 40 Confirmands at our conference retreat center, La Foret, located near Colorado Springs. The major focus of this time together, was to help the youth explore various images of God, and to give them permission to start expanding their concepts of what God looks like, and to ignite their interest of asking questions of how God works in their life’s.
At one of the secessions the story of Jesus’ first miracle was discussed; another epiphany story. In the story, Jesus, his disciples and his mother were guests at a wedding banquet, where the wine starts to run short. Jesus’ mother urges Jesus to take care of this problem. Jesus is not willing to help, so being a good Jewish mother, Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Being forced into dealing with this problem, Jesus then directs the servants to fill ceremonial barrels with water, then to take a pitcher of water from one of the barrels to the host where at that point the water had become wine. Jesus did all this while staying seated. After the wedding, Jesus then tells his disciples that they will perform greater miracles than that. That story has stayed with me during this week as well as the question that I posed to the group at large and then again to the three confirmands that went from this church, “What type of miracles can we recognize that we have either already preformed or are able to perform that are greater than what Jesus has done?” After all, as a minister, I have yet to turn water into wine. I have never been able to walk on water, and I have yet to heal anyone or bring someone back from the dead. So what miracle am I as a disciple of Christ able to do that by Jesus’ standard would be greater than what he did during his ministry?
That is a question that I am going to let you struggle to find the answer, as I think it is a personal question and only you will be able to find the answer for yourself.
Many times the epiphanies in our lives’ come through what we would call a mountain top experience. For the three disciples it came with Moses and Elijah visiting with Jesus. I think the reason why Moses and Elijah are the two visiting with Jesus, is Moses was the one who brought Israel up out of Egypt, out of slavery and has always been referred to as their redeemer; Elijah is representative of the prophet who never died, but rather was taken up to God in the firer chariot. So in this mountain top experience you have the giver of the law from God and the prophet who was delivered from death and was expected to return before the messiah came, thus a fulfillment of the prophet writings.
I have been preaching a sermon series called, Victorious living through Jesus, which is based on the AA 12 step program. This week I am combining step 6, “Being entirely ready to have God remove all the defects of character” and step 7, “Humbly asking Him to remove our shortcomings.” You might ask where does this figure into the story of Jesus’ transfiguration.
I would like to share with you a conversation that I had early in my week with my secretary. We entered into a discussion on the topic of “faith” versus “knowing”. For some people, faith is good enough in order to move forward in their walk with God. For others, those I like to call, concrete thinkers, those who need actual proof in order to believe in God, like doubting Thomas, faith just leaves too much of a gap to believe in. When Thomas was finally able to put his hands into Jesus’ wounds, he then was able to believe, this was Thomas’ epiphany, and this was the point where Thomas was able to ask Jesus to remove his shortcoming of “doubt.”
Peter, James and John all three had a physical encounter with an event that most likely took away any doubt about who Jesus was. My personal epiphany came at 32,000 feet when I had an audible encounter with God, which I have shared with some of you; and from this encounter, there is no doubt in my mind about the degree of love that God has for me. There will be people who will say, my experience can be explained by the lack of oxygen being so high in the atmosphere. It doesn’t matter whether anyone believes what my experience was, because for me it has moved me from operating beyond faith into the understanding of a fact, and it took away my defect which was in doubting the love of God for who I am. I think the reason why Jesus told Peter, James and John not to say anything about what they experienced until after Jesus died and was resurrected was because, no one would have believed them before hand. Possibly, they were still in disbelief.
The point of an epiphany is that through a new revelation, or perspective of life, we are able to move forward in a way that we would not be able to do prior to that epiphany. Before we are able to ask God to remove those things within our lives that keep us from moving forward in our lives, allowing us to become successful in our spiritual walk with God, we need to have our own personal epiphany; our own transfigurational event.
I would like to share a prayer that I have used many times that I think can help us put into perspective the concept of living our life in a transfigurational understanding. It goes like this: Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger women and men. Do not pray for tasks equal to our powers, but for power equal to our tasks. Then the doing of our work will be no miracle – we will be the miracle. Every day we will wonder at ourselves and the richness of life which has come to us by the grace of God. The epiphany found in Christ is that we go beyond whom we are and with the help of God, we are able to overcome many adversities in our life when we let God take away those things that hold us back, and we then become the miracle, which becomes the blessing to this world. Amen
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