Jesus walks toward us in the storm: 10th after pentecost a

The first reading is 1 Kings 19:9-18.

The holy gospel according to Matthew (14:22-33)

²²Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat

       and go on ahead to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,

              while he dismissed the crowds.

              ²³And after he had dismissed the crowds,

                     Jesus went up the mountain by himself to pray.

       When evening came, he was there alone,

              ²⁴but by this time the boat,

                     battered by the waves,

                            was far from the land,

                                   for the wind was against them.

²⁵And early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea.

       ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea,

              they were terrified, saying,

                     “It is a ghost!”

              And they cried out in fear.

                     ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said,

                            “Take heart, it is I;

                                   do not be afraid.”

       ²⁸Peter answered him,

              “Lord, if it is you,

                     command me to come to you on the water.”

       ²⁹He said, “Come.”

              So Peter got out of the boat,

                     started walking on the water,

                            and came toward Jesus.

                     ³⁰But when Peter noticed the strong wind,

                            he became frightened,

                            and beginning to sink, he cried out,

                                   “Lord, save me!”

              ³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him,

                     “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

³²When they got into the boat,

       the wind ceased.

       ³³And those in the boat worshiped Jesus, saying,

              “Truly you are the Son of God.”

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

Storms are not new to us. 

10 years ago next week, a storm crashed waves of water through this town, destroying homes, a sense of safety, and this church building’s basement. 

8 years ago the ELCA decided to follow Jesus more closely during the Churchwide Assembly by beginning a campaign to raise millions of dollars to fight malaria and by recognizing and affirming the calls to ordained and consecrated ministryof people of a variety of sexual orientations and gender identities.  The response of some to the latter commitment was a storm that tore through communities of faith, including here in Rushford, tearing friends and colleagues apart.

Storms are not new to us, nor are they new to Peter, a fisher by trade.  Peter knows the danger of the sea—the water that can be so calm one day and life-threatening another.  So when he’s in the boat, “battered by the waves,” he knows how to handle the boat.  That’s not the terrifying part of it all.

The terrifying part is Jesus.

Jesus shows up in the midst of the storm, heading for the boat, walking on water, and this terrifies the disciples in the boat.  The storm isn’t terrifying, Jesus is.

How often are we scared of Jesus coming to us?

Are we scared of what it means to follow Jesus?  If we’re not yet, we probably should be.  We know where Jesus ended up.

We are currently in the midst of many storms.  A storm is raging as our president threatens and escalates this country towards a nuclear war with North Korea, which would likely destroy this whole planet.  Even as we’ve been praying for peace and de-escalation each week, the president has been intentionally escalating the threat.

Another storm, this one of white supremacy, has been raging, last week in the bombing of a mosque in Bloomington, and most especially this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Uninvited and unwanted white supremacists, engaging in acts of domestic terrorism, gathered without the KKK’s usual white robes of anonymity, carrying torches, and violently protested the planned removal of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s statue.  These neo-Nazis chanted many horrible things, including “Blood and Soil,” a philosophy of the Third Reich, used as a Nazi chant in Germany.  The storm of racism and evil is real and alive in this country.

And Jesus is walking towards us in the midst of this storm.  It is easy for us to gather here in Rushford and dismiss what is happening in Charlottesville or with the president and North Korea as far away and not connected to us.  In college we called it “living in the Luther bubble” as we were fairly ignorant to much of what happened outside of our sphere of study, college, and community.

But Jesus comes to us, walking on the water through the storm with a different way of being.  The ministry we do here in this place as Trinity and First is important.  It matters.  It matters that we make this place more welcoming of Spanish-speaking folks, especially immigrants working on the farms, and of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and questioning folks.  These are important ways of following Jesus by resisting racism and forces of oppression. 

And yet we are also part of a larger body of Christ.  We are part of a whole country and world in which storms are raging and Jesus calls us into this world and that can be terrifying.

We call this place where we gather a sanctuary.  A place of safety amidst the storm.  Many church buildings have historically been constructed like ships and have areas called “naves” to reinforce this.  And, the implication is that life is not always safe.  That’s true.  Jesus doesn’t call us to safety, he calls us to discipleship.

In our first reading for today, Elijah has just stood up to the priests of Baal, as God bests them in a challenge of sacrifice and power, which then ends the drought.  This provokes the ire of the powerful followers of Baal and so Elijah responds by hiding in a cave in the desert far away, feeling alone and afraid for his life.  And God comes to him as “a sound of sheer silence,” or in other translations: “a gentle and quiet whisper,” “a sound of gentle blowing,” or “a sound. Thin. Quiet.”  God’s gentle presence contradicts the storm of anxiety, fear, and loneliness raging in Elijah.

Yet even God’s presence cannot shake Elijah’s terrified and lonely lament, which he repeats word for word when God asks again what Elijah is doing.  And God persists, calling and equipping Elijah and those who would come after him to continue the work.  And Jesus keeps calling to us in the boat in the midst of the storm, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Jesus calls us to deep commitments locally—in welcome and hospitality and boldness as we proclaim the gospel here.  And we are faithful in this call as a community of faith.

Jesus also calls us to deep commitments to justice throughout the world.  And what a witness that could be—

--to gather in our own town, or travel to the state or national capitols, advocating in solidarity with people of color being menaced by proud white supremacists, or to travel together as a community of faith to show up with people of color to resist racism.

--to challenge the narratives that separate our country into rural republicans or urban democrats, showing that more than any political party, we are children of God, caring for our kindred, our friends, and our neighbors around the country and the world. 

--to challenge the narratives that claim at best that we don’t care about and at worst that we support the president’s threats of nuclear war with North Korea, the bombing of the mosque in Bloomington, or the white supremacists’ presence in Charlottesville. 

But more importantly than any of those, what if we took this action to follow Jesus even in the storm that rages, because that is what faith means to us.

This weekend the ELCA issued a statement from Bp. Bill Gafkjen, the chair of the Conference of Bishops, with this prayer:

“Just and merciful God, we give you thanks for … bishops, pastors, deacons, people of God – who this Saturday walk the way of the cross in Charlottesville, Va. On this day and in that place, they join other courageous and faithful people across time and space to stand against bigotry, hatred and violence; to stand with those who are intended victims; and to stand for justice and mercy, peace and equality for all people.

“We stand with them in prayer, asking you to empower them, protect them, and use their witness as [a] hopeful sign of your resurrection reign afoot in your beloved and troubled world. By your might, break the bondage that bigotry, hatred and violence impose on their victims and their perpetrators. May your kingdom come on earth as in heaven. And, we pray, empower us in our own communities to follow their lead as fellow servants to your dream of a community in which all people and their gifts are welcomed and honored, cherished and celebrated as beloved children of a just, merciful and loving God; through Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the life of the world. Amen”

The PCUSA stated: "Because of our biblical understanding of who God is and what God intends for humanity, the PC(USA) must stand against, speak against, and work against racism. Antiracist effort is not optional for Christians. It is an essential aspect of Christian discipleship, without which we fail to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ."
- Facing Racism: A Vision of the Intercultural Community, 222nd General Assembly (2016), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

These are prayers and commitments of words and they are important, but so are the prayers we pray with our feet and with our resources.  Where we show up matters and resisting this mob of white supremacist terrorists, resisting nuclear war, is praying with our whole bodies.  How will we show up?  What are we willing to risk in the storm, to follow the Jesus who is walking to us now?  Jesus is calling to us, how will we respond?  How will we connect to those who suffer injustice not only in our community, but around the country and the world?

Our Church in the World moments have been a great way to keep us aware of what is going on in the world and we include places and people all over the world who are facing injustice and hardship in our prayers each week.  Awareness and spoken prayers are an important step, and they are good beginning steps. 

I think we are ready for our next step. 

What if we commit to showing up or hosting even just one thing a year that addresses injustice in the country or the world?  What if we show up at the state capitol, the nation’s capitol, or the site of resistance in the face of white supremacy?  One embodied prayer, one form of resistance to the storms of injustice that rage around us.  We stay in the boat to fight the storm, rather than escaping.  Jesus is walking toward us and calling us to follow.  So, we pray with our bodies because we trust that the storm can never stop Jesus.  

Thanks be to God.

Christ is the hope that does not dissapoint us: 2nd post-pentecost a

The second reading is from Romans (5:1-8).

 

Therefore, since we are justified by faith,

      we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

            ²through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand;

            and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

            ³And not only that,

                  but we also boast in our sufferings,

                        knowing that suffering produces endurance,

                        ⁴and endurance produces character,

                        and character produces hope,

                        ⁵and hope does not disappoint us,

                              because God’s love has been poured into our hearts

                                    through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

⁶For while we were still weak,

      at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

      ⁷Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—

            though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.

                  ⁸But God proves God’s love for us

                        in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

The holy gospel according to Matthew (9:35-10:8).

³⁵Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages,

      teaching in their synagogues,

      and proclaiming the good news of the dominion of heaven,

      and curing every disease and every sickness.

            ³⁶When he saw the crowds,

                  he had compassion for them,

                        because they were harassed and helpless,

                              like sheep without a shepherd.

                  ³⁷Then he said to his disciples,

                        “The harvest is plentiful,

                              but the laborers are few;

                              ³⁸therefore ask the Lord of the harvest

                                    to send out laborers for the harvesting.”

10Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples

      and gave them authority over unclean spirits,

            to cast them out,

            and to cure every disease and every sickness.

²These are the names of the twelve apostles:

      first, Simon, also known as Peter,

            and his brother Andrew;

      James son of Zebedee,

            and his brother John;

      ³Philip and Bartholomew;

      Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;

      James son of Alphaeus,

            and Thaddaeus;

      ⁴Simon the Cananaean,

      and Judas Iscariot,

            the one who betrayed him.

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:

      “Go nowhere among the Gentiles,

      and enter no town of the Samaritans,

            ⁶but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

                  ⁷As you go, proclaim the good news,

                        ‘The dominion of heaven has come near.’

                  ⁸Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.

                        You received without payment;

                              give without payment.

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

Paul’s letter to the Romans states: “suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us.”  But what kind of hope is Paul talking about in this letter to the Romans?  And what kind of suffering for that matter?  Is suffering truly redeemable?  Can any good come from suffering?

There is plenty of suffering that cannot be redeemed.  The suffering of victims of abuse, who are so often trapped in abusive relationships and situations by circumstances beyond their control.  There is no redemption of that abuse because it is not freely chosen, there is no larger purpose.  Those who perpetrate abuse perpetrate evil.

The suffering in death of Philando Castile was not the kind of suffering that can be redeemed.  The suffering and death of those who were murdered two years ago yesterday at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston because a white ELCA member didn’t like that they were Black is not the kind of suffering that can be redeemed.  People of color who are killed and harmed and harassed for simply existing deserve better. 

White supremacy and white privilege, parts of what we know as racism literally kill people of color.  People of color become the crowds Jesus encounters—harassed and helpless, oppressed and thrown to the ground, because of a system that tries to dehumanize them and then refuses to convict those who kill them.  To not speak up, to not name that killing another person is evil, to not name that #BlackLivesMatter reinforces the evil of white supremacy.  It becomes complicity in a system that harms our siblings, friends, and neighbors.

Suffering these abuses and deaths is not the suffering that Paul is lifting up in his letter to the Romans.  Paul is writing to the Early Church in Rome, to which he will soon journey, and where he will be arrested and executed.  This church, this community of faith in Rome is suffering persecution for their faith—gathering in secret in underground catacombs, fearing arrest, torture, and death for their hope. 

I can imagine them resonating deeply with the crowd described in our gospel reading, being “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd,” and even moreso with a more literal translation of the crowds being “oppressed and thrown to the ground.”

Their suffering is not the suffering that is not redeemable.  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of the suffering he and others, like Bayard Rustin and Rosa Parks, experienced during the Civil Rights Movement.  While those who perpetrate violence always enact evil, those who, like the ones who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, willingly endure suffering for the sake of a larger struggle for justice, embody the suffering that does produce endurance. 

It is suffering for a larger purpose—to expose injustice for what it is—that produces the endurance Paul talks about.

This endurance is the ability for Mildred and Richard Loving to persevere in their relationship in the face of a country that said interracial marriage was wrong.  This endurance is the endurance of those who know our participation in struggles for justice help make the “arc of the moral universe” bend towards justice, not on accident or by default, but on purpose and with intentionality and hard work. 

This past week marked 50 years since the Lovings won their Supreme Court case against the state of Virginia, ensuring the right to marry not be restricted by race, and laying some of the groundwork to guarantee those of us who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer the right to marry who we want.

The endurance of people like the Lovings does produce character—the kind of character that trusts the God who is love to be at work in others and who notices God in others.  This character is evident in those in our community who go out of their way to make others feel welcome, those who know what it is to be left out and work to make sure others do not know that isolation, harassment, or helplessness. 

This character, born of long fought for endurance, is the kind that talks to people when they are worried that someone is being abused, struggling to make ends meet, or lost in the isolation of physical or mental illness.  This character recognizes the value and worth of people of color and other marginalized group—knows the pain of sending children into the world each day, wondering if they will make it back home safely.  This character is intimate with the gut wrenching compassion that moves Jesus to not only teach, preach, and heal, but also send out the disciples for this work of the dominion of heaven.

This character also knows the hope of which Paul writes.  This hope that does not disappoint us.

But we are disappointed by hope all of the time.  When we hope for a child and are faced with miscarriages or illnesses.  When we hope a relationship will last forever and are disappointed to find that divorce is the reality we need or face.  When we hope a guilty verdict will finally bring a glimpse of justice, yet once again hear “not guilty” ring out.  When we hope a building will serve all of our needs, but we are disappointed to find we cannot make it accessible and the constant repairs are restricting our ability to be in mission.  This is not the hope we seek.  This is not the hope Paul is talking about.

The hope that Paul proclaims is a deeper hope.  It’s not a secret wish or unstated expectation that all will be well or go as planned.  The hope that does not disappoint us is the hope in our God whose whole being is love.  Hope in our God who loves us so much that God comes to live with us—to be and become us, even knowing that our response to that love is too often violence, exclusion, harassment, and even execution on the cross. 

Hope in the God who responds even to the most violent of deaths with new life in the resurrection.  Hope in a God who makes a way out of no way, who takes the unexpected and loves it into new life, who creates meaning and purpose when we can’t imagine anything like it.

The hope that does not disappoint us is the hope in a God who takes our failed attempts, our heart break, our personal disasters, and then as Paul states, pours out their love “into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

Our hope, when placed in the God who changes with and for us, does not disappoint, because Jesus comes for each one who is sick, harassed, and helpless and gives the fullest measure of devotion not only in death, but then even further in new resurrection life.  Because Christ died for us so we can live in hope with Christ that death is not the ultimate power, that racism will not win, that violence doesn’t reign supreme, but instead our hope in Christ is assured because love wins, justice will reign, and peace will rule the earth. 

Thanks be to God.

Jesus' Abundant Life is Dangerous

The first reading is Ezekiel 37:1-14.

The holy gospel according to John (11:1-44).

¹Now a certain man was ill,

      Lazarus of Bethany,

            the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

                  ²Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume

                  and wiped his feet with her hair;

                        her brother Lazarus was ill.

³So the sisters sent a message to Jesus,

      “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

      ⁴But when Jesus heard it, he said,

            “This illness does not lead to death;

                  rather it is for God’s glory,

                        so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

      ⁵Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,

            ⁶after having heard that Lazarus was ill,

                  he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

⁷Then after this he said to the disciples,

      “Let us go to Judea again.”

⁸The disciples said to him,

      “Rabbi, the Judeans were just now trying to stone you,

            and are you going there again?”

⁹Jesus answered,

      “Are there not twelve hours of daylight?

            Those who walk during the day do not stumble,

                  because they see the light of this world.

            ¹⁰But those who walk at night stumble,

                  because the light is not in them.”

      ¹¹After saying this, he told them,

            “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,

                  but I am going there to awaken him.”

¹²The disciples said to him,

      “Lord, if he has fallen asleep,

            he will be all right.”

¹³Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death,

      but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep.

            ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly,

                  “Lazarus is dead.

                        ¹⁵For your sake I am glad I was not there,

                              so that you may believe.

                                    But let us go to him.”

¹⁶Thomas, who was called the Twin,

      said to his fellow disciples,

            “Let us also go,

                  that we may die with him.”

¹⁷When Jesus arrived,

      he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem,

      some two miles away,

      ¹⁹and many of the Judeans had come to Martha and Mary

            to console them about their brother.

²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,

      she went and met him,

            while Mary stayed at home.

      ²¹Martha said to Jesus,

            “Lord, if you had been here,

                  my brother would not have died.

                        ²²But even now I know that whatever you ask from God,

                              God will give you.”

²³Jesus said to her,

      “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴Martha said to him,

      “I know that he will rise again

            in the resurrection on the last day.”

²⁵Jesus said to her,

      “I am the resurrection and the life.

            Those who believe in me,

                  even though they die, will live,

                  ²⁶and everyone who lives

                        and believes in me will never die.

                              Do you believe this?”

²⁷She said to him,

      “Yes, Lord,

            I believe that you are the Messiah,

                  the Son of God,

                        the one coming into the world.”

²⁸When she had said this,

      she went back and called her sister Mary,

      and told her privately,

            “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

                  ²⁹And when Mary heard it,

                        she got up quickly and went to him.

³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come to the village,

      but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

      ³¹The Judeans who were with her in the house,

            consoling her,

            saw Mary get up quickly and go out.

                  They followed her

                        because they thought that she was going to the tomb

                              to weep there.

      ³²When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him,

            she knelt at his feet and said to him,

                  “Lord, if you had been here,

                        my brother would not have died.”

            ³³When Jesus saw her weeping,

                  and the Judeans who came with her also weeping,

                        he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.

            ³⁴He said,

                  “Where have you laid him?”

            They said to him,

                  “Lord, come and see.”

                        ³⁵Jesus began to weep.

                              ³⁶So the Judeans said,

                                    “See how he loved him!”

                              ³⁷But some of them said,

                                    “Could not the one

                                          who opened the eyes of the blind man

                                                have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸Then Jesus,

      again greatly disturbed,

            came to the tomb.

                  It was a cave,

                        and a stone was lying against it.

            ³⁹Jesus said,

                  “Take away the stone.”

            Martha,

                  the sister of the dead man, said to him,

                        “Lord, already there is a stench

                              because he has been dead four days.”

            ⁴⁰Jesus said to her,

                  “Did I not tell you that if you believed,

                        you would see the glory of God?”

⁴¹So they took away the stone.

      And Jesus looked upward and said,

            “Father, I thank you for having heard me.

                  ⁴²I knew that you always hear me,

                        but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here,

                              so that they may believe that you sent me.”

            ⁴³When Jesus had said this,

                  he cried with a loud voice,

                        “Lazarus, come out!”

                  ⁴⁴The dead man came out,

                        his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth,

                        and his face wrapped in a cloth.

      Jesus said to them,

            “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

When I started my first call in South Jordan, Utah, I didn’t know anybody anywhere near me.  So, I looked up the Salt Lake City Pride Center as a way of connecting with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community there.  In my search on the website, I discovered the 1 to 5 club, a group for those of us who identified more along the bisexual, transgender, and queer + lines than the lesbian or gay ones.

I still remember the anxiety I had early on there as I came out, not as queer, but as a pastor.  Particularly in the queer community of Utah, I knew my queerness wouldn’t be an issue in the group, but I also knew that the dominant religion in Utah was pretty clearly against lgbtq+ folks.  And here I was both queer and part of a religious institution.  To many people not just in Utah, but throughout this country and even in our town, I remain an anomaly or a contradiction.

I wonder if that’s what Lazarus felt like. 

Coming out of the tomb, he was both dead—as in good and dead—four whole days of dead!  And yet he was alive.  He would eventually die again, but for now he was alive … and smelled awful!  He certainly didn’t fit the mold for an acceptable part of the community.

But Jesus was there, so what else could he expect but to come out of the tomb?

That tomb that had been comfort and tranquility, separation from all of his hardship and heartache.  Yes, it was dark.  Yes, it smelled terrible!  But when you’re dead, I’d guess you don’t really notice those things as much.

Then Jesus gets the folks gathered to move the stone and calls out, “Lazarus, come out!” and as Ezekiel points out, those dry—or perhaps just rotting—bones gain flesh and breath—gain life again.

It would be great if we could say that Jesus brings Lazarus back to life and everybody lives happily ever after, but that just isn’t true.  The smell still hangs on Lazarus, as the strips of cloth used to bind him in his death, trail out of the tomb with him.  And when Lazarus is at this most vulnerable moment, Jesus calls the community into the mess and stress and stink. 

The abundant life that Jesus brings is radical and revolutionary.  It threatens the systems we have in place that govern power and resources.  It threatens, as we renounce in our baptismal rite, “all the forces that defy God” and “the powers of this world that rebel against God.”

And this abundant new life requires something from the whole gathered community.  Jesus doesn’t call Lazarus back into life and leave him to go on his way alone.  Jesus calls him out and then tells the community to “unbind him.”

Abundant life is a community thing.  It’s not always convenient or comfortable, and sometimes it’s downright dangerous.  Touching this one who was dead would challenge the community’s policies around being clean and unclean.  Is Lazarus unclean because he was dead or clean because he’s now alive?  To unbind him, the community has to risk their own separation from religious practice, not to mention dealing with the stench and grime of someone who’s been dead for four days.

Right now, our government’s policies have bound up immigrants and minorities with legitimate fears of immigration raids, deportations, bans, and a wall.  The abundant community that we glimpse each week as we gather in communion means that the comfort and convenience of the relationships we’ve developed is being called to account.   

No matter what, God will love us, but we have the choice as a community of faith to give up some of our comfort and convenience in order to remain faithful not only to the abundant life that Jesus brings, but also to the relationships we’ve been investing in.

The next part of today’s gospel, which we don’t get, is the fallout from Jesus’ encounter with Lazarus at the tomb.

The gospel reads:

⁴⁵Many of the Judeans therefore,

      who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did,

            believed in him.

         ⁴⁶But some of them went to the Pharisees

            and told them what he had done. 

            ⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council

                  and said, “What are we to do?

                        This man is performing many signs. 

                        ⁴⁸If we let him go on like this,

                              everyone will believe in him,

                              and the Romans will come and destroy

                                    both our holy place and our nation.”

                  ⁴⁹But one of them, Caiaphas,

                  who was high priest that year, said to them,

                        “You know nothing at all!

                              ⁵⁰You do not understand

                                    that it is better for you to have one man die for the people

                                          than to have the whole nation destroyed.”

                        ⁵¹He did not say this on his own,

                              but being high priest that year

                                    Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation,

                                    ⁵²and not for the nation only,

                                          but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 

            ⁵³So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

-----

We will learn more about the fallout next week, especially on Good Friday. 

But what we do know is that abundant life is dangerous.  It threatens our comfort and our convenience.  It threatens the ways of the world so much that people immediately begin plotting to kill Jesus and it will lead Jesus to death on a cross. 

And yet it is profoundly life-giving. 

My relationship with those who became deep friends in Utah would not have been a part of the abundant life Jesus calls us all to if I had not shared not only the part of me that was similar to them, but also the part of me that was potentially contradictory.   

In sharing all of myself and entering into the messy unbinding that comes with our relationships and abundant life, I actually received the gifts of grace and vulnerability from my friends as well, and together we walked with each other in the struggles and triumphs of our queerness and in the struggles and triumphs of our faith.

I will never promise you that abundant life, this life we have through Christ, will be comfortable or convenient. 

I can pretty much guarantee you that when we are most faithful to Jesus it definitely won’t be, especially now, especially in these days. 

But it will be worth it.

Thanks be to God.