All Saints Sunday

Revelation 21:1-6a

On this All Saints Sunday, we name those who have died during the last year. While here at Ascension, only one congregation member is listed this year, there are many more names of family and friends that remind us of the tremendous losses that the last year has contained. And we must not ignore the hundreds of thousands of deaths here in the United States and millions worldwide from COVID-19.

Grief has been described as “a foreign territory with rules all its own that one only discovers by traversing the unwelcome terrain.”[i] It has its own customs and language. And often, at least in modern Western culture, it’s not a destination - someplace we want to stay. Instead, it is seen as something to “get through” like a desolate stretch of Route 66 in Nevada.

In his “Sermon on Preparing to Die” Martin Luther wrote “we should familiarize ourselves with death during our lifetime, inviting death into our presence.” He argued that we must look at death while we are alive, seeing sin in the light of grace and hell in the light of heaven and so, disarm the devil who would fill us with dread and send us running away from death and God.[ii]

Grief and death cannot be ignored or outrun, and when we try to, we risk missing the sacredness of the journey. 

In the Book of Revelation John of Patmos “narrates the reality of suffering” as he writes

a letter of comfort to seven churches undergoing persecution, urging their members to remain steadfast and assuring them that despite all appearance to the contrary, the Roman Empire’s power is not absolute; it is God who reigns supreme.[iii]

The first things that John writes about are the sources of suffering that we experience on earth.[iv] Faith does not exempt us from pain and suffering, but our text today promises us that God is present with us even as we live with feelings of anguish, sorrow and fear.

The vision John has of a new heaven and earth is one where the sea is gone. Remember that in the ancient world the sea was a place of chaos where evil and corruption prevailed, so when John says “the sea was no more”, he is saying that, in this new world that God creates, the strongholds of death, mourning and pain are destroyed. In this new world, we know a new reality unlike anything we experienced before, one where God is victorious.

The second part of John’s vision is the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven. Contrary to popular, fictional ideas, we are not raptured into a pristine kingdom and we do not escape this world for a heavenly reward or stars in our crowns. God comes to us. God comes down to dwell with mortals, and we find healing and new life in God’s presence.

Writing this letter of consolation, John reminds these first century communities, and us, that we know the end of the story. On the cross Christ takes your sin from you, bears it for you, and destroys it… He takes your death upon himself and strangles it so it may not harm you...In that way, Christ [is] the picture of life and grace over against the picture of death and sin.[v]

And knowing the end of the story makes all the difference.

God is present with and among us now and we are invited to ask, “Where can we see glimpses of the new city here and now?”

I believe it’s visible when we tell stories of those who have died and laugh together. Or when we share a memory, knowing that if tears come to our eyes, the person listening to us understands. Or when we hold something that belonged to the person who died or smell a familiar scent and instead of experiencing pain, we are comforted. It’s visible in each one of those moments when pain, sorrow or suffering is transformed by God’s regenerative power to make all things new again.

Let us pray…

Holy God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus whose life, death and resurrection testify to your power over death and the grave.

Help us as we mourn those who have died to remember you weep with us and hold us in our sorrow.

By your Spirit, awaken us to the life we have with you, where death, mourning and pain are destroyed.

We pray in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

Amen.

[i] Joy J. Moore on Sermon Brainwave for All Saints Sunday, November 7, 2021. https://www.workingpreacher.org/podcasts/810-all-saints-sunday-nov-7-2021

[ii] Martin Luther. “A Sermon on Preparing to Die.” Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, 2nd Edition. Timothy Lull (Ed.) 420-421.

[iii] David L. Bartlett; Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Kindle Locations 8440-8443). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

[iv] Rene’ Such Schreiner. “Commentary of Revelation 21:1-6a”. Luther Seminary. workingpreacher.org

[v] Luther. 422.

Fifth Sunday in Lent

John 12:20-33

Yesterday was the first day of spring, and while I saw crocus, daffodils and pear trees blooming, the wind was piercing, reminding me that we are still many weeks away from the last threat of frost or a hard freeze. We are living in this ‘in-between time’ of “already but not yet.”

We are experiencing this ‘in-between time’ as the pandemic continues as well. Percentages of positive cases are falling and, slowly, vaccination rates are rising. We have come through more than a year of precautions to keep each other safe, but risk remains. “Already but not yet.”

Today’s gospel is set in another ‘in-between time.’

In this chapter of the Fourth Gospel we hear the last words Jesus speaks during his public ministry – a discourse that could be read as “an interpretation of the “final sign in the Gospel: Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.”[i]

Promising “the ruler of this world will be driven out”, he speaks of Satan’s loss of authority over the world, even as the religious authorities were plotting to arrest him and kill him. (John 11:57) Jesus isn’t wearing rose-colored glasses or being a Pollyanna; he recognizes the evil in the world but has unshakeable confidence that God will be victorious over it.

And then Jesus makes his third reference to his being “lifted up”. We first heard that phrase last week in John 3:14 where it said that Jesus is the source of salvation to all. It appears a second time in 8:28 when Jesus first speaks with the disciples about his death. And now he is telling everyone who is listening to him what is about to happen, and he is promising that when he is lifted up from the earth, he will draw all people to himself. (12:32)

Remember, that in John’s gospel, being lifted up is not only about the crucifixion but also the ascension, creating a way to the Father through Jesus.

Death is all too familiar -whether that death is physical death of someone you love, the death of a long-held belief, the death of a trusted relationship, or the death of a cherished dream. What is unfamiliar and challenges us is to imagine that there is something beyond death. God’s power to transform death into new life and make a way where there has been no way makes the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension exceptional.

This power is the wonder we experience when we see new blooms opening above frosty flowerbeds or the exhilaration we feel when a loved one has been vaccinated against the coronavirus. It is the realization that God continues, again and again, to do something new in the face of long odds and difficulties.

New Testament scholar Father Raymond Brown writes, “The victorious hour of Jesus constitutes a victory over Satan in principle; yet the working out of this victory in time and place is gradual work of believing Christians.”[ii] We are in an ‘in-between time’ of “already but not yet” as we live in the world as it is and long for a world where God is glorified.

The dilemma we face is that we are simul justus et peccator or “both saint and sinner.” If achieving the glory of God is our responsibility alone, we will fail. If driving Satan, or the prince or ruler of the world out, and resisting and condemning all evil is our task, the future is grim. Like Peter, we passionately swear our commitment to Jesus as Lord but within hours, we deny him. We have to echo what Saint Paul named in Romans 7 where he said, “19 I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.”

But the Good News we have in today’s gospel is that it isn’t our work alone. Remember, God gets all the verbs. Jesus draws people to himself. That doesn’t give Christians a free pass to do nothing. Instead it is a promise that we are empowered by God to do God’s work in the world. As the author of First John wrote

4 …whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. 5 Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:3-5)

In faith and by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, we are given the authority to create this life-giving world where evil is resisted and defeated, and where God is glorified.

Of course, as quickly as we recognize the gift and authority God has given us, we also ask how?

So, let’s return to the parable Jesus began with. There we are permitted, and even instructed, to let things die so that new life may come, and new fruit may be born.

We cannot cling too greedily or clutch too tightly to what is already ours. We have to hold things loosely and even be willing to give them up - to let things die and be buried so that there is space for new things to grow.

Honestly, this isn’t easy, even for congregations, churches and church-goers, even when we know God promises there is life after death.

But especially as we approach Holy Week and Easter, as spring advances and the pandemic’s shadow grows smaller, let’s remember that death never gets the last word and think of what may need to die and imagine what new life or fruit may be possible in our lives and our ministries.

Let us pray…

Good and gracious God,

Thank you for Your Son Jesus, the source of salvation for all, and for the abundant life you promise to all who know Him.

Forgive us when we hold things too tightly and forget to trust You.

Help us believe that You will make something new when all we see is death.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

[i] Karoline Lewis. Commentary on John 12:20-33, Luther Seminary. workingpreacher.org

[ii] Raymond Brown. The Gospel According to John I-XII. 477.

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost/ Lectionary 15A

Romans 8:1-11

Paul opens the next part of his letter to the church in Rome with this declaration: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”

He is writing to the church there, and has been describing the pervasive power of sin, not merely our individual actions or omissions, but the powers and principalities that work against God and draw us away from God. And he has already said that because of sin, it is impossible for us to do what is right on our own; our only defense against sin is Christ.

And so he says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”

This is the theology of the cross on display. When we are brought low by our failures and our shortcomings and our inability to live according to God’s Word, we are brought to the cross.

But we aren’t left there in our despair. Instead, the foot of the cross becomes the same holy ground where we meet Jesus.  And it is in Jesus Christ, that we come to know that God loves us. Each and every one of us.

God loves us so much that God raises us up to new life with the Son, and makes us a new creation. God gives us new life in Christ; everything old has passed away. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

In verse 2, Paul says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

A death by a thousand cuts is a death that comes from an endless succession of smaller injuries. Living under the law of sin and of death, each sin slices into us. But in Christ, death is put to death and we are freed.

Freed from the violence others do to us:

Freed from the hurt from years ago;

from resentment that has festered;

from the disappointment that has gnawed at you.

And freed from the harm and injury you bring on yourself:

Freed from the grief over a missed opportunity;

from the guilt or shame because you hurt someone or wronged someone.

from the anxious thoughts that you cannot be good enough or smart enough or strong enough.

In Christ, we are freed to rest in God’s love, poured out for us. For each and every one of us.

Hear Paul’s words again, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”

Now. Today. Not in the bye and bye, but here today while you are still living, Christ delivers you from sin and death and there is no condemnation.

Instead of a condemned sinner, you are a beloved child of God.

We know that doesn’t mean we won’t continue to sin. Paul would not have had to deliver his tongue twister in chapter 7 if sin was not still in the world. He tells us we will continue to be stuck between knowing what is right and actually living what is right. But the promise we have is that, in Christ, we will have the victory.

Instead of living in the flesh, now we live in the Spirit.

Lois Malcolm writes that “living in the Spirit is precisely about living out of God’s creative power in our lives.”[i] She says, “The Spirit is God’s energizing power in our lives, continually working good out of whatever is happening to us or around us.” [ii]

As we hear Paul’s words for us this morning, I invite you to find two pieces of paper. I am going to ask you to write down two things.[iii]

First, write down the thing you feel worst about.  The thing that drags you down or haunts you. That thing you carry with you. You don’t have to share it with anyone. Just write it down.

And then throw it away, saying:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”

These words are for you.

And now that you’ve done that. I have another invitation.

On the second piece of paper, write down what you are now free to do because you are not shackled or burdened by condemnation. Your success or failure does not determine your value.

When Jesus meets the crippled woman in Luke 13, he tells her, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment."  (Luke 13:12)

When he meets the woman accused of adultery in John 8, he tells her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way,” (John 8:11)

And when he heals the Gerasene demoniac in Luke 8, he tells him, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” (Luke 8:38-39)

How will God’s creative power take shape in your life? What act of courage or generosity might you make or what action might you take when you have confidence that God sees you and calls you beloved and free? In the words of poet Mary Oliver, “What will you do with this wild and precious life?” What will you do now that you know you live in God’s love? How will you respond to the much that God has done for you?

Let us pray…

Loving and creating God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus who creates new life for us and delivers us from despair.

Show us how to live in your Holy Spirit, freed from sin and death.

We pray now in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

[i] Lois Malcolm. The Holy Spirit. 61.

[ii] ibid

[iii] From David Lose. “Dear Working Preacher” on workingpreacher.org. Luther Seminary. http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=1571, accessed July 11, 2020.

Lectionary 26C/ Proper 21

Thinking this week about what this parable says to us, I came across a cartoon that shows a smiling robed angel and a man standing on clouds, looking at an elevator clearly marked “up for heaven “and “down for hell” and the man is saying, “Somehow I thought it would be somewhat different.”[i]

The parable begins with a rich man who is richer than anyone can imagine, clothed in “purple and fine linen” and feasting sumptuously or extravagantly every day, not just at Shabbat or on high holy days. In my imagination, I picture Midas who is remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold.

And then Jesus tells us about a second man, a poor man who was laid at the gate of the rich man, at the entrance to his property. In other translations, this man is called a beggar. He was dependent on help from neighbors and community, but we never hear that he received any help from the rich man or anyone else.

All we are told about him is that he has sores that the dogs lick, and we are told his name. He is named Lazarus from the Hebrew el azar which means “God has helped.”

Popular interpretations of this parable often add things that aren’t part of the story. Nothing is said about ritual purity and uncleanliness. Nothing is said about either man’s demeanor. Nothing is said about either man’s piety or religiosity, faith or belief, or righteousness. They’re just two men, one rich and well-fed, one poor and hungry.

However, we know from Scripture that for Torah-observant Jews, and for Christians for that matter, the biblical mandate to care for the poor is clear.

• In Deuteronomy 15 the people are instructed, “"Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land."[ii]
• In wisdom literature, Proverbs says, “Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, but happy are those who are kind to the poor.[iii] and “2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.”[iv]
• And the prophets add their two cents, too: Isaiah tells the people, “share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house;[v] and Zechariah instructs us, “show kindness and mercy to one another; 10 do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor;”[vi]

Hearing this parable, we wonder, Why would the rich man ignore Lazarus? Maybe he felt powerless to help, or anxious that he would be taken advantage of. Recognizing our human condition though, it seems as likely that he never saw Lazarus as his responsibility; he either didn’t care what happened to the man or he was blind to the suffering right in front of him, and never even saw the poor man.

Our bewilderment is short-lived.

In the verses that follow we’re told each man dies and come to inhabit Hades, which translates literally as the “unseen place.” Ironically, Lazarus, who was not seen in life, is seen there.

Hades, hell, Sheol or Gehenna are all used in Scripture to describe the place of the dead. The descriptions we have aren’t literal or geographical and our understanding of heaven and hell has changed throughout time. Ancient Israelites believed in a three-tiered world where heaven was above and the dead went to a morally neutral underworld below. It wasn’t until the fourth century that Jews adopted the Hellenistic view of heaven as a place for the saved and hell as a place for the damned.[vii] Many of the familiar and graphic images of hell we might recognize today originated with Dante’s fourteenth century epic poem Divine Comedy and 15th and 16th century paintings of the Last Judgment and these images persist in popular culture today.

This parable describes a completely different place “where the saved and the damned could see each other.”[viii]

When the rich man cries out, it’s clear that the only thing that has changed is his location. His way of thinking is the same as it was in life . While he now sees Lazarus, and even knows his name, he still “others” him, speaking about him, instead of speaking directly to him. The rich man first asks Abraham to send Lazarus to bring him water. And when that fails, he asks him to send Lazarus to his five brothers so that they might be spared the torment that he’s experiencing. He remains blind to the truth that he and Lazarus are both children of Abraham, brothers in God’s sight. [ix]

Even when Abraham tells the rich man there is a chasm that cannot be bridged, he fails to see his own complicity in his fate. His own ignorance and lack of compassion carved out that chasm; it is the same chasm he used in life to separate himself from the poor and the suffering. It is as deep as his fears and disdain, his selfishness and contempt. Now, as theologian Amy-Jill Levine writes, “he will spend eternity seeing what he cannot have”[x] — a wholeness that is only possible in life with God, as part of the kingdom.

This parable reminds us that “God does not play by our rules.”[xi] When we encounter God’s kingdom, it’s going to be different than we imagine, just as God is beyond our knowledge and understanding now. What we know, right now, and what we are taught in the law and by the prophets, is that we have the responsibility to pour out God’s mercy and compassion here and now.

Let us pray…
God of heaven and earth,
Thank you for your mercy and grace that make us Your children and heirs to Your kingdom.
Teach us to see people through Your eyes and to love them as You love them.
Make us compassionate and generous as we go out into the world to share the Good News of your abundant love.
We pray in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Amen.

[i] Werner Wejp-Olsen. https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/o/otis.asp, accessed 9/28/2019.
[ii] Deuteronomy 15:11
[iii] Proverbs 14:21
[iv] Proverbs 22:1-2
[v] Isaiah 58:7
[vi] Zechariah 7:9-10
[vii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_cosmology, accessed 9/26/2019.
[viii] Amy-Jill Levine. Short Stories by Jesus. 286.
[ix] Levine, 288.
[x] Levine. 289.
[xi] Levine, 300.