dream day

this colorado girl's dream day!!  today was one of my monthly reading days (scheduled about a month ago with no knowledge of "winter storm q"'s plans to come visit--what does the q stand for, anyway??).  the snow just kept piling up and after a visit from jesus (or was she just a homeless woman in need of shelter?), i headed outside.

this is my rain meter - something i didn't know about until coming to kansas city. 
yes, it is full of snow with snow piled all around it.

my car, approximately five minutes (or less) after i had brushed it clean - as in, black like it's painted. 
when i was getting my snow gear on, it wasn't even snowing!

the snow would not pack together for a snowbaby on my porch, so i had to at least make a snow angel!

this is my happy (and maybe a little cold and tired) face!

for a girl who was beginning to give up on winter here in kansas city, this snow was a dream come true!!

may you be covered in the dust of jesus: ash wednesday

the psalm with which we began the service was psalm 51.
the first reading was joel 2:1-2, 12-17.

the holy gospel according to matthew, the 6th chapter.  glory to you, o lord.

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ²“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ³But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

⁵“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.⁶But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

¹⁶“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

the gospel of the lord.  praise to you, o christ.

-----

remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

just as joel sounds the trumpets for a solemn assembly, much of our lives are marked by funerals and loss.  sometimes i find myself keeping track of the events of my life in relationship to those who have died.  it’s not necessarily every year that someone close to me dies, but it’s often enough that they can be time markers.  my uncle in third grade, my grandfather at the end of eighth grade, my high school classmate my second year of college, and my grandmother this past year.

you are dust and to dust you shall return.

death is all around us and yet the world that surrounds us does not like death or mortality.  it does not want to be reminded that we will all die in the end—you can see it in commercials most clearly.  denying mortality, the underlying message is that you will be more alive, more immortal, further from death—or, at least, that is how you will appear.  you will look younger, more alive, vibrant if you would just by this one product.

but we were created out of the dust to be a dusty people.  god formed the first human from the dust of the ground.  it’s even in the hebrew of the words.  adam from adamah.  we are dusty people,    from dust,    and when we die, we will return to the dust of the earth. 

as god has provided us with nourishment from creation for our living, so, in our dying do we respond with nourishment for creation.  returning to the earth at the end of our lives, continuing the cycle for generation after generation.

you are dust and to dust you shall return.

we come today to put ashes on our foreheads, to proclaim the good news of our mortality to the world.  we come today to stare death in the face,   to face our mortality    in the grace of god because even as we embrace mortality, we know that in jesus christ, death does not have the final word. so we can come to join the solemn assembly of joel to honor that life is precious and short—even when it lasts for over a century.  we come to say that yes, we will die, we will get sick, we will be sad and lonely and angry, we will mess up and sin and hurt, and,   even in all of that,   we have a god who loves us.

a god who loves us in all our messiness and a god who knows not only our shadow sides, our sinfulness, but also our original goodness.  this is the god who creates us, the god who comes to dwell with us, to be the Dusty One among the dusty many.  a god who comes to us, even knowing the path ahead.

you are dust and to dust you shall return.

that is what these long 40 days are about.  we begin our lenten journey marked by dust—the dust of the cross.  we know this road.  we have traveled it before.  this is the road to jerusalem.  the disciples walked it so many years ago, not knowing how it would end.  we know where the road leads, to the top of the hill, to the cross.  yet our call is to discipleship.

in high school sunday school, we talked about discipleship in jesus’ time and learned that in jesus’ day, disciples were the people who tried to be just like their rabbi.  they would try to follow the rabbi so closely that the saying for disciples was, “may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.”

you are dust and to dust you shall return.

we are covered in the dust of our rabbi, marked with the cross of christ.  looking forward to these 40 days as a time to deepen our discipleship—to be covered in the dust of jesus not just today, but every day.

it is in light of our dusty situations that we hear jesus’ words to us that in our alms giving, in our praying, and in our fasting we are to do it not for the recognition that the world gives, but for our own growth.  we do it as a way of helping our hearts to get to the right place.  jesus says, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

my heart does not always go where i want it to.  psalm 51 makes it clear, requesting, “create in me a clean heart, o god, and renew a right spirit within me.  cast me not away from your presence, and take not your holy spirit from me.  restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with your bountiful spirit.”

jesus’ promise that where we decide to store up treasure will help our heart to go where we choose gives me hope that even when i am struggling in my heart, my mind and intentionality matter and they can guide my heart in the long run.  it is a promise that says i have agency and i get to choose where i lead my heart. 

my heart, though very much influenced by it, is not bound to evil or consumerism, spite or fear.  i get to help my heart live into its original goodness, which came before and is stronger than any original sin, and part of how i get to do that is in how i respond to what god has provided.  i get to store up my treasures where i choose.

and lest i get too full of myself, believing my salvation might depend on me rather than on god, i am reminded:

you are dust and to dust you shall return.

even as i get to choose where to store up my treasure, where i want to lead my heart.  here on ash wednesday it is clear.  i am not dependent on my own heart or my will or my actions.  even as i seek to be covered in the dust of jesus, i am not jesus and i am not the one with all the grace. 

even as i store up my treasure, as i come for repentance, for forgiveness, for comfort, i am reminded of my favorite definition of grace: there is nothing you can do to make god love you any more and there is nothing you can do to make god love you any less. 

because although we are dust and to dust we shall return, that is not all we are.  in our baptisms we are claimed as god’s beloved children.  so when we come seeking clean hearts and right spirits, we know that god will cleanse us as with hyssop and make us clean because god has already cleansed us with the waters of baptism, where we were joined to jesus in his death so that we might be raised with him in the resurrection.

so i come to be covered in the dust of jesus, trusting that god’s grace, poured down at baptism and made known in jesus christ, covers me long after the dust of ashes has been washed away.

you are dust and to dust you shall return.

jesus chooses his disciples: narrative lectionary

the holy gospel according to luke, the 5th chapter, glory to you, o lord.

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ²he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. ⁷So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” ¹¹When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

the gospel of the lord, praise to you, o christ.

-----

in high school sunday school, we’ve been watching a video series by rob bell.  a couple weeks ago when i taught sunday school the theme was discipleship.  we learned a couple things about those who were disciples to a rabbi that really stuck out to me.

1-disciples were the best of the best of the best as all others were filtered off into their family business and being a disciple was the dream job, such that a rabbi would go to a potential disciple—who had memorized the torah (the first 5 books of the bible), the talmud (the rest of the books that make up what we call the hebrew bible or old testament genesis through malachi), and the midrash, or commentary from the rabbi (referred to as the rabbi’s yoke)—and say “come, follow me” and a disciple would do it in a heartbeat.

2-the goal of discipleship was to be like your rabbi—to the extent that you walked right behind them and walked in what they walked in and the saying was “may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.”

so, when jesus as a rabbi comes to simon and james and john to call them as disciples, he is not calling the best of the best—they’re already well into the family business, after all—but it’s no wonder they say yes!

it’s the dream job of the day!  the catch with jesus is that try as anyone might, they cannot follow him as they would another rabbi.  jesus is god incarnate—grace made real—and so while we can try to be like him, we will never be him.  we will never fully succeed.  his love and grace is so overflowing that it breaks the nets we cast and nearly submerges our boats!

this is the part of the sermon where i invited people to make use of the crayons, pens, and paper in their pews to reflect individually and then with someone next to them on the following two sets of questions:

1- what is your dream job?  if you could do anything and get paid for it, what would it be?            

what would you say if somebody came by out of the blue and offered you that job?                       

2-when has someone chosen you for something?  how/for what do you wish god would choose you?

as we move through lent this year, i invite you to reflect on how you might deepen your discipleship.  what would it take and what would it look like for you to be covered in the dust of jesus?  what would it mean to you?

jesus is ready to jump: 4th sunday after epiphany

jeremiah 1:4-10 was also a reading assigned for today.

the holy gospel according to luke, the 4^th chapter, glory to you, o lord.

²¹Then Jesus began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

²²All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” ²³He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say,

‘Do here also in your hometown

the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’”

²⁴And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. ²⁵But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.

²⁹They got up,

drove him out of the town,

and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built,

so that they might hurl him off the cliff.

³⁰But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

the gospel of the lord, praise to you, o christ.

----- 

last week pastor jennifer read the passage just before this where jesus outlines his vocation, saying, “the spirit of the lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,                        to proclaim the year of the lord’s favor.”(luke 4:18-19)  jesus then makes clear that this is what he is about.  as in most of luke’s gospel, salvation comes here and now.  “today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 

now.

this first glimpse in the gospel of luke of god’s glory being revealed in jesus gets the hometown crowd pretty excited.  their reaction is positive, if slightly patronizing: “this is joseph’s kid!”  “we know him!”  “he sure is getting his money’s worth at school!”  but then jesus drops the figurative bombshell:

not here.

this is not “good ol’ boy” salvation that comes, as the hometown crowd expects, to family and hometown first.  just like jeremiah, jesus has good news of building and planting: freedom from oppression—release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, but for them both first comes reality: for jeremiah that reality is destruction—plucking up and pulling down, destroying and overthrowing—babylonian captivity—for jesus it’s that god doesn’t play by our rules—the way we’ve always done things.

jesus has come for all nations and all people;            there sure are a lot of those other nations.  and, the hometown crowd are no more deserving than the gentile widow at zarephath or the gentile leper, namaan.

nor, is the hometown crowd any less deserving, but until they can realize that first part, that they are not more entitled to the first and best from god, they won’t be able to appreciate the second, that because of god’s love and grace, they are just as deserving as everyone else.

this realization—that they are not automatically entitled to all the miracles they want as the hometown crowd—leads             to             rage.          in typical mob mentality, the crowd switches from praise and hope    to rage    in a heartbeat.

…and they’re off. 

filling with rage, driving jesus out of town, and preparing to hurl jesus off the cliff. …  that’s the plan, anyway.  but in all their rush to hurl jesus off the cliff,      somehow,   he manages   to pass   through   the midst of them, begging the question: if he could just walk away, why did he let it go so far in the first place?

as he is pushed and shoved to the hilltop,    is jesus holding onto a glimmer of hope that the crowd will ask to be a part of what he is up to?  to join jesus’ mission instead of getting riled up that he won’t join theirs?

i wonder what would happen if, instead of trying to throw him off, the crowd had tried    to fly with him.  what if jesus let them shuttle him up to the hilltop to see if anyone would have the courage to ask to fly?                         the courage to leap with him into his ministry and vocation.

so, jesus keeps waiting and hoping that our questions and requests of “what will you do for me?”  and “please bless what i am doing.”  will change to “what can i do for you?” and “how can i get involved in what you’re up to in the world?”

if jesus is always waiting for us, pursuing us, what does it mean that he tells the crowd—his hometown crowd, who expects his utmost allegiance:      it’s not happening here.

it’s not that what the hometown crowd does is awful, they clearly care enough for jesus that they listen to him and praise what he says—at first.    the tough part,     the part where emotions turn on a dime,    is when his hometown realizes that while jesus is for everybody, their privileged position as the hometown crowd doesn’t entitle them to anything. 

jesus holds out hope as long as he can.  perhaps out of love for this very hometown crowd that is running him out of town.  i can just imagine jesus, being pushed and shoved along the way to the top of the hill, waiting and hoping for a voice to speak against the mob.

and finally, as they make it to the top of the hill, jesus looks around at everyone, and, with a deep sigh, lets his head hang down and passes gently through the midst of them to go on his way, always waiting and hoping, glancing back, to hear one voice, one person, break with the crowd and ask to join jesus.

but it’s hard.  it takes courage and tough deliberation to leap.                       

at seminary, it was a big deal, for me, to lead a student organization as we worked to become a reconciling in christ seminary, to make our welcome official, and to engage in the tough conversations about welcome, but i was not alone in it—it was jesus who was ready to jump, and i was just trying to join in and that happened to be the role i was given.

at immanuel, we have plenty of chances to jump, to be brave and courageous and ask jesus how we can join what he’s doing. 

sometimes the chance to jump with jesus is clear, easy, or straightforward:

            saying yes to serving at bessie’s house

            bringing extra food for mlm or the souper bowl on sundays

            increasing your giving

            attending a worshipping opportunity you don’t regularly attend

            becoming a faith mentor

sometimes it’s a harder question:

            how do we express god’s welcome, love, and acceptance to those who come here?

do we want to adopt a new welcoming statement?

how do we want to spend money as a church?

how much do we want our benevolence to be?

how do we use this building?

how might we use this building?

what is jesus up to in westport?  in kansas city?  in the country?  the world?

sometimes, like jesus’ hometown crowd, i do not want to join jesus in what he’s doing.  i would much rather hurl him off the cliff because this different way of being or this new idea is too much for me and i’d rather stick to the way things have always been.  

lucky for me, jesus always seems to pass through and go on his way before i get the chance to actually hurl him off the cliff, and i am left to ponder what i could have possibly been thinking.

other times, though, i am ready to be that voice in the crowd that says, “wait!  i want in.  i want to fly with you, jesus.  take me where you’re going!”  it’s both scary and exciting.  i want it and i fear it, and much of the time it is our vocation—it is where our desires and joys meet the world’s needs—it is a dream that seems far off, but might    actually    be    as close as jesus    passing    through    the midst of us.

what is it for you?  

what makes you scared?  

what makes you want to hurl jesus off the cliff?  

what makes you excited?  

what is jesus up to that makes you want to jump?  

how do you?  —how will you—jump with jesus?

lenten vigil intern project

(yes, i know, it's confusing...lenten series, on easter vigil old testament readings, as my intern project)

the time has come!  as i write this, i am in the midst of coordinating my intern project for the year.  the project is called god provides, we respond and will take place primarily as the lenten wednesday series.

the idea for this project came from a workshop i attended last year at lstc.  in the workshop, we looked at the easter vigil readings through the lens of stewardship.  we discovered, as the presenter already had, that each of the texts involved god providing something, which naturally raises the question: how do we respond?

so, during lent we will be exploring the old testament readings from the easter vigil both in worship and preaching as well as in the adult education time following the service.  each week a different text from the vigil will be used as the scripture for the worship service and then during adult education afterwards we will explore the text together and its implications for our lives as 21^st century disciples. 

the person who will be reading the text at the vigil will be helping lead the education component, which will help us all to dive more deeply into the readings and their meaning for our lives today.  the hope is also that this deeper exploration during lent will lead to more meaningful engagement, connection, and interest in the vigil itself.

i am really excited about the creative engagement people are already having with the texts and can't wait for lent to begin!  if you're in kansas city this lent or easter, come check out immanuel!

abundant life for all: 2nd sunday after epiphany

additional reading of note: 1 corinthians 12:1-11

the holy gospel according to john, the 2nd chapter, glory to you, o lord.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”

⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.”

And they filled them up to the brim.

⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”

So they took it.

⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

the gospel of the lord, praise to you, o christ.




-----

on the third day.  what is always bound to happen “on the third day” in the gospels?  the Resurrection, of course!  you know and i know and the first hearers of the gospel of john definitely knew.  god’s glory is revealed on the third day.  this is especially true as this is the season of epiphany.

and so on this third day, we find jesus, his disciples, and his mother together at … a wedding?  now, weddings in biblical times lasted for about a week.  this was a celebration!  so on the third day there was a feast, joy, a celebration of life and commitment, a party, abundance! … and … the wine ran out.  now i don’t know much about wedding planning, having never planned one of my own, but even i know that you don’t want the wine to run out!

so, just when those who are “in the know” think there will be no wine, no spirit, no liveliness left for the second half of the wedding week; and when those who are not “in the know” are expecting the cheap, bad wine that works, but is definitely less than ideal—it’s the cheap stuff, after all;  when there are no high expectations regarding wine, the mother of jesus faithfully calls on her son.  mary trusts in what she knows from raising the word of god incarnate, and calls on him to rescue the whole wedding party from this terrible social faux paux, from this scarcity.

jesus isn’t even ready yet.  his hour has not yet come—that is, it’s not time for crucifixion yet, he’s not quite ready to be sent out into the real world—just a few more days, weeks, months at home, please!  then maybe he’ll try it.  sounds like the dream for many parents, my own included, who watched their children leave the nest as quickly as they could.  and yet, mary is faithful and knows that jesus’ time is now.

just as mary carried jesus in her womb for those long nine months, so now she carries him into his first public ministry.  the two places that mary shows up in the gospel of john are what appears to be the beginning, here at the wedding in cana of galilee, and what appears to be the end, at the foot of the cross. 

in reality, this is not the beginning and the foot of the cross is not the end.  the gospel of john makes clear that the beginning was the beginning of all things, after all, “in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god” (john 1:1).  and john knows that while jesus’ hour is his crucifixion, it is not the last word, it is not his end, nor is it the end.  there is life and hope, for on the third day is Resurrection.

that mary appears only here and at the cross, that this wedding takes place “on the third day,” and that jesus is already talking about “his hour,” make this a story of god’s glory revealed in jesus christ through the lens of death and resurrection.  we cannot understand this story except through jesus’ crucifixion and on the third day, his Resurrection.

so we come to the middle of the wedding feast with expectations of, at most bad, cheap wine, and at worst, no wine at all and what we get is the best wine imaginable!—the good stuff.              

joy and abundance for all gathered at the celebration feast!  here and throughout the gospel of john, jesus’ desire for humanity and, indeed, what he brings humanity, is:  Abundant Life.  not for some, but for all.

jesus’ desire for us all is Abundant Life, which martin luther king, jr. articulates as the Beloved Community. the king center states that, “dr. king’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth.

“in the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated… racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood… love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred.” 

in king’s own words, that love “is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. it is the love of god working in [people’s lives]. this is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.” “it is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of [people].”

through this love, our part in the Beloved Community, in the Abundant Life only Christ can provide, is to recognize the gifts the holy spirit has given each of us.  paul is clear: these gifts are not to build ourselves up to a place of prominence, but instead to build up the body of christ, the Beloved Community.  to join with the servants in cana—contributing our part—our gifts—to build each other up, to participate in king’s Beloved Community and in jesus’ Abundant Life.

it is about diverse people coming together for the good of all people.  that we would care not only for the friends and family we’ve grown up with or look like, but also for all of god’s beloved children. 

Abundant Life in Christ is for the people who come hungry, angry, lonely, tired, excited, and joyful. 

Abundant Life in Christ is for those on welfare, the working poor, the teachers and middle managers, the entrepreneurs, and the ceos. 

Abundant Life in Christ is for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions, whether they are locked in the closet, peeking out, or have burst from it with a fabulous outfit/wardrobe.  it is for friends and family who supported or shunned them; hugged them or sent them away when they came out.  it is even for those who never knew.

Abundant Life in Christ is for those whose ancestors lived here before it was “discovered,” those whose ancestors “conquered” this land, those who founded this congregation, those who immigrated to this country—proficient in english or not speaking a single word of it, and those who have just arrived—by boat, by plane, and through the desert. 

Abundant Life in Christ is for those whose skin is as dark as midnight, those whose skin glows bright in the dark of midnight, and those in every shade and hue of the color we call “flesh.”

Abundant Life in Christ  is for everyone and the only way we get the Beloved Community—Abundant Life in Christ is when there truly is a place at the table for everyone—when all people really know deep in their souls that they are not only welcome, but wanted.  that is what god does at communion.  god invites, god wants, god welcomes, and god feeds everyone who comes to the Table.

we may set the Table and serve the food, but it is now and always will be god’s Table, god’s food, god’s invitation, and god’s guests, come to receive christ’s body given for us, the Beloved Community—Abundant Life for all people.  communion is the collection of all people for a feast of abundance—love and nourishment and spirit.  communion is the kin-dom on earth.  god’s gift of grace and reconciliation for you and for me and for all people.

theologian vítor westhelle talks about communion as anamnesis—remembrance.  he points out that communion is so vital because of the remembrance it brings of the community the disciples had together with jesus.  communion is a remembrance of the past in a way that brings life to the present and in this coming together of past and present, we receive community and hope for the future to come. 

every sunday we celebrate the community christ forms and we celebrate Abundant Life in Christ—love and care by all and for all.  that is what christ does in cana of galilee on the third day and that is what christ does in his Resurrection on the 3rd day and that is what christ does for us today.  at the Table.

let there be...epiphany!

i still have the echoes of the immanuel children’s christmas program in my ears and the confirmation kids’ rap, “you were once in darkness, but now you are the light in the world.  live as children of light, and find out what pleases the lord.”  (from ephesians) luckily, this is perfect for the first sunday this month!

epiphany is one of my joys each year in large part because i love the image of god as light.  in high school our synod youth gathering theme one year was “glow” and was based on john 1:5 “a light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not/will not/cannot overcome it.”  wherever there is light, the darkness crawls away and so if i can hold god’s spark inside of me, there will always be light to scatter the darkness.

i also really like the concept of god as light because of the science of it.  when it comes to light, the bright “lightness” of light happens because all of the colors visible to us on the light spectrum combine.  it’s similar to when we talk about humans being made in the image of god, imago dei.  it’s not that i, personally, am what god looks like, but instead, together, in our collective diversity as all of humanity, we are made in the image of god.  god as light is the gathering together of all of the diversity of the color spectrum.  when we can come together in our diversity—the whole rainbow of creation, of the human race—then we have the chance to live into god’s light and to manifest that light in this world.

jesus surprises us: 1st sunday of christmas

the other scripture for the day were:

1 samuel 2:18-10, 26

colossians 3:12-17

the holy gospel according to luke, the 2^nd chapter.  glory to you, o lord.

⁴¹Now every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. ⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. ⁴³When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. ⁴⁴Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey.

Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” ⁴⁹He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰But they did not understand what he said to them. ⁵¹Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

the gospel of the lord.  praise to you, o christ.

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this week i went to see the movie rise of the guardians with some friends.  rise of the guardians is about the guardians of childhood: santa claus, the easter bunny, the tooth fairy, the sandman, and jack frost, protecting children and childhood from the boogie man.  

at the end of the movie, a child behind me said to his adult caregiver, “but jack frost has to be real, or where does all the frost come from?”  again on the way out of the theater, the child clarified that, “there’s only one big foot.”  to which the man responded, “i don’t know…there were a lot in the movie.”  making eye-contact with the child, i replied to his statement with, “true story,” affirming what the child had said.  as we walked away i heard the child exclaim to the man, “see!  somebody over there said, ‘true story!’”

not having any of my own, for me children are, in general, full of surprises.  one of my favorite things when i talk with children is to learn how their thought process works.  even when it’s not what i would come up with, it’s usually very clearly logical—jack frost must exist, or where does frost come from?  these conversations always seem to give me something to treasure in my own heart. 

the child that is so convinced about jack frost and big foot surprised me with his logic and brought me back to the fun and wonder of being a child.

in our gospel reading today, jesus also            surprises the grown-ups with his questions and observations.  those gathered in the temple are surprised and mary and joseph are very clearly surprised—after all, it took three days of searching before they thought to look in the temple! 

where were they searching in those three days?  what made them finally decide to check the temple?  did it take all three days to get through their list of family and friends in jerusalem?  were they simply heading to the temple to pray, having exhausted all options and hope? 

although it was just a few days ago that we experienced the angels with the shepherds and jesus’ birth, i have to wonder if mary and joseph have forgotten who jesus really is.  has so much time passed since the angels came to them and the shepherds that they’ve returned to the “normalcy” of raising a child and all that that entails and forgotten that this child is also god incarnate—god-in-the-flesh?

were the expectations raised so high at the beginning with the angels and the shepherds that the normalcy of raising a child—the dirty diapers, constant hunger, and lack of sleep—overtook the wonder and joy of god incarnate?  here, we encounter the holy family when jesus is still a child, being good and faithful, following through on the rites and rituals of their faith, yet perhaps forgetting the mystery of their child.

after 12 years without an angelic appearance, it’s understandable that they’ve lowered their expectations for what it means to be jesus’ caretakers.  being parents has become normal, perhaps delightfully so, perhaps not.  so, when jesus turns 12, they make their usual pilgrimage to jerusalem for the passover festival and are jerked back to the reality of having a child who is nothing like any other, who surprises them with his logic and brings them back to the bafflement of raising the child of god.

when they finally do find him and lay the parental guilt down, saying, “child, why have you treated us like this?  look, your father and i have been searching for you in great anxiety.”  jesus clearly points out that he has a higher authority to answer to than mary and joseph.  he makes clear to them that there was only ever one thing he could be doing.

theologian john petty points out that in the greek, jesus’ explanation is far more interesting.  using language of divine imperative, jesus says that he must be about his father’s business. the word “house” is not in the text in greek, but instead it is understood that the english fill-in could be house, or it could more likely be business, things, or interests.  so, jesus explains to his parents, “of course i was here; i had to be here, being about my father’s business.”

and what is his father’s business?  for 12-year-old jesus it’s listening and questioning                         and in that it is surprising.  jesus surprises his parents and the local scholars by listening and engaging them in conversation, but even more profoundly, he surprises them by being in the temple and being about his father’s business.

jesus does what no other 12-year-old would—he leaves his parents not to run away, but to recognize the higher authority on which he is to act.  he has a mission and in the first words jesus says in the gospel of luke, he sets the tone for his whole ministry in the gospel: he is to be about his father’s business first and foremost.  this business is surprising in that it entails engaging people—listening, questioning, answering, and surprising.

but this is not the first surprise.  years and years earlier god surprised hannah by bringing her a son, whom she named samuel.  and years and years after that, yet still so many years ago god surprised mary and joseph and the world by coming in the form of a baby to be god-with-us, immanuel.

jesus surprises the teachers with his understanding and answers, while he listens and questions in the temple.

jesus surprises his parents by being in the temple, not with them on the way back from jerusalem.

jesus surprises us by following a higher authority—god’s authority—rather than our own human authorities.

jesus surprises all those around him throughout his life and ministry. 

and ultimately, jesus surprises us all by taking all the hatred and violence of the world into himself and responding with life!                          resurrection! 

and since then, he has continued to surprise people throughout the ages.  i asked some of my friends how jesus surprises them and i got responses ranging from “everything about jesus surprises me” to “nothing really surprises me about jesus anymore.”  it got me thinking, though, about the ways that jesus can surprise us all today.

jesus surprises us in the welcome feast at the table each sunday where each broken person comes to be fed by the body that is broken for all, where jesus breaks into our worship with forgiveness, life, and nourishment.

jesus surprises us with the children in our lives who ask tough questions, who are confident in their logic, who are more insightful and observant than we might give them credit for being, and who put things into new perspectives.

jesus surprises us by coming to engage with us—to come as god incarnate—god-in-the-flesh—to be flesh with us.  and each week when god comes to us in jesus we get to join with mary and “treasure all these things in our hearts,” “letting the peace of christ rule in our hearts—and letting the word of christ dwell in us (richly)” through word and sacrament.

jesus surprises some by providing a free roof over their head even as they are immersed in a culture of independence that says it can’t be so.

jesus surprises some in a prayer shawl received for the day they come out to loved ones.

jesus surprises me with moments of grace and joy that quickly follow tearful moments of complete frustration and loss.

jesus surprises some with hugs that both huggers desperately need, even if they can’t always ask for them.

jesus surprises some in the faces of patients and friends waiting for care, for comfort, for god

jesus surprises us in the lives of those with whom we are angry or frustrated

mr. rogers once said, “when i was a boy and i would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘look for the helpers. you will always find people who are helping.’”  maybe jesus surprises us when we follow mr. rogers’ mom’s advice and we see the helpers in a given situation: the teachers, the firefighters, the police officers, the parents, the friends, the children, the strangers.  maybe that is how jesus surprises us. 

  

jesus surprises some when he glows in our darkness, in victoria soto, a teacher who saved lives with hers, in first responders who run into the situation when others run out.

jesus surprises me by making me uncomfortable, by pushing me.

jesus surprises some by showing up over and over again, sometimes by coming out of hiding, sometimes when reflecting back on a situation, and sometimes in that very moment.

how does jesus surprise you?  does he challenge you?  does he push you beyond your comfort zone?  does he comfort you?  does he surprise you by loving you?  

how does jesus, this god incarnate, immanuel, surprise you?  

and how will he surprise you this week?