jesus prays for us: easter 7a

The holy gospel according to John (17:1-11)

¹After Jesus had spoken these words to his disciples,

      he looked up to heaven and said,

            “Father, the hour has come;

                  glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,

                        ²since you have given him authority over all people,

                              to give everlasting life to all whom you have given him.

                                             ³And this is everlasting life,

                                    that they may know you, the only true God,

                                    and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

            ⁴I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.

                  ⁵So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence

                        with the glory that I had in your presence

                              before the world existed.
 

⁶“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.

      They were yours,

            and you gave them to me,

                  and they have kept your word.

            ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;

                  ⁸for the words that you gave to me

                        I have given to them,

                        and they have received them

                        and know in truth that I came from you;

                        and they have believed that you sent me.

      ⁹I am asking on their behalf;

            I am not asking on behalf of the world,

                  but on behalf of those whom you gave me,

                        because they are yours.

                              ¹⁰All mine are yours,

                                    and yours are mine;

                                          and I have been glorified in them.

            ¹¹And now I am no longer in the world,

                  but they are in the world,

                        and I am coming to you.

                        Holy Father, protect them in your name

                              that you have given me,

                                    so that they may be one, as we are one.”

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

Today, as Jesus brings his time with his disciples to a close, he prays for them.  This prayer is one of the last prayers they will hear before Jesus’ death and so he really packs it in.

Jesus’ prayer is not only a prayer for his disciples in 1^st century Palestine, but for us as well.  It is a prayer for us as individual followers of Christ and as a community of faith.

In my second year of college, one of my high school friends died in a car accident.  Before I went home for spring break and the memorial service, my roommate made me a small survival package to go with me.  Included were several colorful note cards with bible passages on them to provide comfort in my grieving.  These note cards have traveled with me each time I move to a new place or face a new challenge.

One of the bible passages my roommate included was Jesus’ prayer in the 17^th chapter of John, only instead of all of the “they”s referring to the whole group of disciples, she put my name, so that Jesus was praying specifically for me.

So, for the next part of the sermon, I’m going to pass out today’s gospel, with an additional part, as the prayer actually continues for the whole 17^th chapter.  There will be blanks instead of “they”s and I changed the verbs, so they should match a singular person.  Please find one other person and take turns sharing Jesus’ prayer for each other, by adding their name in the blank.  Some people go by nicknames and full names, so please check with the other person to know what name they want you to use.

Jesus prayed:

⁶“I have made your name known to _________ whom you gave me from the world. _________ was yours, and you gave _________ to me, and _________ has kept your word. ⁷Now _________ knows that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸for the words that you gave to me I have given to _________, and _________ has received them and knows in truth that I came from you; and _________ has believed that you sent me. ⁹I am asking on _________‘s behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of _________ whom you gave me, because _________ is yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in _________. ¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but _________ is in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect _________ in your name that you have given me, so that _________ may be one, as we are one.”

¹⁷Sanctify _________ in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent _________ into the world. ¹⁹And for _________’s sakes I sanctify myself, so that _________ also may be sanctified in truth.

²⁰”I ask not only on behalf of _________, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through _________’s word, ²¹that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may _________ also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given _________, so that _________ may be one, as we are one, ²³I in _________ and you in me, that _________ may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved _________ even as you have loved me.

Because faith and discipleship are so rooted in community, it’s important that even as we are praying for each other individually and lifting up Jesus’ prayer for each of us individually, we also pray within the context of this larger community of faith.  And it is precisely for this larger context of a community of followers of Christ that Jesus is praying.  So, now, hear this prayer from Jesus:

Jesus prayed:

⁶“I have made your name known to Trinity and First whom you gave me from the world. First and Trinity were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now Trinity and First know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸for the words that you gave to me I have given to First and Trinity, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and Trinity and First have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because First and Trinity are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in Trinity and First. ¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but First and Trinity are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect Trinity and First in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

¹⁷Sanctify First and Trinity in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent Trinity and First into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that First and Trinity also may be sanctified in truth.

²⁰”I ask not only on behalf of Trinity and First, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may First and Trinity also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given Trinity and First, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³I in First and Trinity and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Amen.

The Holy Spirit Is Alongside Us: Easter 6a

The holy gospel according to John (14:15-21).

Jesus said to the disciples:

¹⁵“If you love me,

      you will keep my commandments.

      ¹⁶And I will ask the Father,

            who will give you another Advocate,

                  to be with you forever.

                  ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth,

                        whom the world cannot receive,

                              because it neither sees her nor knows her.

                  You know the Spirit,

                        because she abides with you,

                        and she will be in you.
 

¹⁸“I will not leave you orphaned;

      I am coming to you.

¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me,

      but you will see me;

            because I live,

                  you also will live.

            ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father,

                  and you in me,

                        and I in you.

            ²¹They who have my commandments and keep them

                  are those who love me;

                        and those who love me will be loved by my Father,

                        and I will love them

                        and reveal myself to them.”

The gospel of the lord.

-----

Today on this 6^th Sunday of Easter, we begin to look towards Pentecost.  We will celebrate Jesus’ Ascension this Thursday, yet before then Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit—our Advocate.  This week we encounter Jesus, as last week, at the Last Supper.  Having washed his disciples’ feet and given them his greatest commandment: to love, Jesus is preparing himself and his disciples—his friends—for a time of deep loneliness.

Judas is on his way to betray Jesus, Peter will deny him, and the rest will abandon him.  And for his part, Jesus will be tortured and killed and no matter how many times Jesus has told them, they will still not understand that his death is not the end.  So they, too, will feel abandoned, alone, and afraid, as happens to many of us when someone we love dies, no matter the reason.

Into this loneliness, Jesus brings the promise of the Holy Spirit.  The title Advocate is translated from the Greek word παράκλητος, or Paraklete.  In English, the word Advocate might call to mind a court scene with a lawyer who is arguing in your defense or organizations like ELCA Advocacy, the Presbyterian Mission Agency, or Lutheran Advocacy-Minnesota, who work with congregations and elected representatives to ensure that the government is helping and protecting the most vulnerable.  These do describe the work of the Holy Spirit well, yet there is another aspect to the Paraklete that is also important.  The Paraklete, the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, is one called to assist another.

Lutheran preaching theologian, Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis, describes the work of the Paraklete as “the one who is literally called to be alongside us.”[i] The One who is with us in our struggles and our sorrows.  The reality is that many times the Paraklete is with us through the presence of other people—through the ones who meet up for lunch just to catch up, who stop by to say hi and see how we’re doing.

Womanist ethicist, Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes names the need for each of us to: “Keep integrated, resist pulling apart.  Have friends tell you when they see pieces of you drifting away.”  This is also the work of the Holy Spirit, our Paraklete: to call us back to ourselves when we lose our way, to remind us of who we are when we feel too broken up or broken apart.

The beauty of the Holy Spirit’s work is that she doesn’t just come alongside us and bring back the parts of us that might be drifting away.  The Holy Spirit also uses us to do that for others.

It is an amazingly simple, yet difficult, way of being to which Jesus calls us.  It is precisely in anticipation of the deepest, loneliest time that Jesus affirms and calls the disciples to this connectedness and this Holy Spirit-Paraklete way of being.  The Holy Spirit is with us in every moment of our lives so that when we are breaking apart or overwhelmed with sorrow or pain, she will already be there, “to be alongside us.”

One of the ways we join in this is to pay attention to the Parakletes in our lives and let them know who they are to us.  Are there a couple people in your life who have come alongside you?  Who are with you in your struggles or sorrows?  Who comfort you or call you back to your whole self?

Have you told them how much they mean to you?  What would happen if you told them they are the Holy Spirit, the Paraklete, for you?

In my favorite movie, August Rush, the title character is a child prodigy in music and at the end of the movie, there is a monumental scene in which he tells us in voiceover, “The music is all around us, all you have to do… is listen.”  I’ll tweak that a bit and assure you: The Holy Spirit is all around us, all you have to do… is notice.

Thanks be to God.

---

[i] Unless otherwise specified, the quotes in this sermon are from: http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=4886

the Indwelling Heavenly Mother makes us living stones: easter 5a

The first reading is Acts 7:55-60.

The second reading is 1 Peter 2:2-10.

Today's gospel reminds us that the Bible was written in a particular patriarchal context.

Without language as free or all-encompassing of gender as God's own self is, the writers of the bible chose language for God that frequently tended toward the masculine. So, today of all days, I invite you into the gospel with openness and curiosity about God our Heavenly Mother.

The holy gospel according to John (14:1-14)

Jesus said:

¹“Do not let your hearts be troubled.

      Believe in God,

            believe also in me.

²In my Mother’s house there are many dwelling places.

      If it were not so,

            would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

            ³And if I go and prepare a place for you,

                  I will come again and will take you to myself,

                        so that where I am,

                              there you may be also.

                              ⁴And you know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵Thomas said to Jesus,

      “Lord, we do not know where you are going.

            How can we know the way?”

⁶Jesus said to Thomas,

      “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

            No one comes to the Mother except through me.

                  ⁷If you know me,

                        you will know my Mother also.

                              From now on you do know and have seen my Mother.”

⁸Philip said to Jesus,

      “Lord, show us the Mother,

            and we will be satisfied.”

⁹Jesus said to Philip,

      “Have I been with you all this time, Philip,

            and you still do not know me?

            Whoever has seen me has seen the Mother.

                  How can you say, ‘Show us the Mother’?

                        ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Mother

                              and the Mother is in me?

                        The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own;

                              but it is the Mother who dwells in me who does these works.

            ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Mother and the Mother is in me;

                  but if you do not,

                        then believe me because of the works themselves.

¹²Very truly, I tell you,

      the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do

            and, in fact, will do greater works than these,

                  because I am going to the Mother.

                        ¹³I will do whatever you ask in my name,

                              so that the Mother may be glorified in the Child.

                              ¹⁴If in my name you ask me for anything,

                                    I will do it.”

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

[For the children's sermon, I read the story of Stone Soup]

When I was in middle school, my least favorite unit in science class—a class I generally enjoyed—was geology: the study of stones.  We learned about igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks; how they were created and how to tell the difference between them.  I did not appreciate my teacher’s wisdom or enthusiasm about the rocks.  I do know that we did not learn about any rocks that were alive—fossils that were imprints of formerly living creatures, sure.  But living stones?  Definitely not.

And yet, this week, I found myself diving deep into the study of rocks—biblically at least.  As I read Acts and then 1 Peter, I wasn’t sure what exactly a “living stone” might be, since we never studied it.  The good news is that while the Bible doesn’t go into any detail about the various types of stones out there in the world, stones do come up in a variety of other ways.

These different “stone” appearances pop up in several contexts throughout the New Testament.

As we might anticipate, stones are connected to buildings.  In the gospels, the disciples admire the stones and magnificent decorations of the Temple—remodeled by Herod to “give honor to God”—and, even more so, to give honor to Herod, as the ruler, a recent convert to Judaism, who constructed it.  This reaction by the disciples is exactly the reaction Herod was going for. 

Jesus, however, has another perspective.  His response to the disciples’ awe in the 24^th chapter of Matthew is, “You see all these, do you not?  Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2)

These Temple stones, used to hold a building, to impose power and intimidation on those who visit, are counter to Jesus’ mission in the world.  The glory Jesus seeks is a different kind of glory, one not found in any building, but instead found in other “stones.”

The Stone Jesus does lift up, is one of the stones lifted up in 1 Peter as well, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner.”  This quote from Psalm 118 points us toward the rejection Jesus will face. 

The religious and political institutions that have been constructed,

      symbolized in the grandiosity of the Temple,

            have built injustice into the foundation and the walls, yet these structures built up with injustice will crumble, they will be torn down.  Jesus, the Stone that didn’t fit their plan, the One that they rejected, will become the key to a renewed way of being in the world—a way of being whose foundation is justice, whose foundation is radical love for each person and the entirety of creation.

This is our foundation, our cornerstone, and our first clue as to what it means to be living stones—living stones that align with this Chief Cornerstone.  The stones we encounter at both Jesus’ and Lazarus’ tombs further this shift from stones that hold in death, destruction, and heartache, like the stones of the Temple, to stones that reveal resurrection and abundant life of the kind that seek justice and love.  The stones of the tomb begin as stones of death, yet God transforms them into living stones, opening to the resurrection.

These living stones are also the stones from which Jesus says God is able “to raise up children to Abraham” and it is these stones that Jesus says would shout out even if he were to silence the crowds gathering on Palm Sunday.  These stones, faithful to Jesus, raising their voices for a different, more just way of being in the world are living stones, called into being by our God who has abundant hopes and dreams for her creation.

1 Peter calls us, as followers of Christ, to be living stones.  To be justice-seeking, loving stones, participants in a world turned on its head.  This call contrasts starkly with the stones used in our story from Acts.  The stones that show up there are stones of destruction and violence—stones used to kill Stephen.  These stones continue their evil work in our world today.  They kill as bullets fired throughout the world and as fists harming intimate partners.

The choice is not always as clear as today’s readings.  We do not always see death or resurrected life as the consequences of our choices.  We cannot always see the soup that will come from a stone placed in boiling water.

This is where our gospel account calls us in.  Jesus is talking to his disciples at the Last Supper, preparing them for the stones of death and the tomb, and calling them and us into a deeper dwelling with the God who loves them and who dwells in Jesus and in each of us.

This indwelling presence of our God who is the Heavenly Mother, the Holy Parent, transforms us into living stones, as 1 Peter proclaims, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of the one who called you out of darkness into the marvelous light of God.  ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

This indwelling Holy Mother is also a source for this holiday.  Julia Ward Howe, the poet who wrote the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” wrote, in 1870, the Mother’s Peace DayProclamation, beginning what has become the Mother’s Day we celebrate now.  So, living stones, listen to the call of our Heavenly Mother in Julia Ward Howe’s words:

Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.

“Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says, “Disarm, disarm! The sword is not the balance of justice.” Blood does not wipe out dishonor nor violence indicate possession.

As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each learning after [their] own time, the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.

That is the root of Mothers’ Day, the heart of our Heavenly Mother for every person and all of Creation.  May the indwelling Mother, God of us all, make us into living stones, that we may embody nurture and concern for each person as workers of justice and seekers of peace here in our own community and in the world.

Thanks be to God.

Christ the Resurrected and Wounded One: Easter 2a

The holy gospel according to John (20:19-31)

¹⁹When it was evening on that day,

      the first day of the week,

      and the doors of the house

            where the disciples had met

            were locked for fear of the religious authorities,

      Jesus came

      and stood among them

      and said,

            “Peace be with you.”

      ²⁰After he said this,

            Jesus showed them his hands and his side.

                  Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

                  ²¹Jesus said to them again,

                        “Peace be with you.

                              As the Father has sent me,

                                    so I send you.”

                  ²²When he had said this,

                        Jesus breathed on them and said to them,

                              “Receive the Holy Spirit.

                                    ²³If you forgive the sins of any,

                                          they are forgiven them;

                                    if you retain the sins of any,

                                          they are retained.”

²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin),

      one of the twelve,

            was not with them when Jesus came.

                  ²⁵So the other disciples told him,

                        “We have seen the Lord.”

                  But Thomas said to them,

                        “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands,

                              and put my finger in the mark of the nails

                              and my hand in his side,

                                    I will not believe.”

²⁶A week later Jesus’ disciples were again in the house,

      and Thomas was with them.

      Although the doors were shut,

            Jesus came

            and stood among them

            and said,

                  “Peace be with you.”

            ²⁷Then he said to Thomas,

                  “Put your finger here and see my hands.

                        Reach out your hand and put it in my side.

                              Do not doubt but believe.”

      ²⁸Thomas answered him,

            “My Lord and my God!”

      ²⁹Jesus said to him,

            “Have you believed because you have seen me?

                  Blessed are those who have not seen

                        and yet have come to believe.”

³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples,

      which are not written in this book.

            ³¹But these are written

                  so that you may come to believe

                        that Jesus is the Messiah,

                              the Son of God,

                  and that through believing

                        you may have life in Jesus’ name.

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

Every year on the second Sunday of Easter we encounter Thomas and the other disciples. Earlier in the day, Mary came and first said that someone had taken Jesus’ body and then later returned with more information to proclaim the Good News to the disciples: “I have seen the Lord.”

Having received this Good News, we then encounter the disciples that evening locked up in the house “for fear of the religious authorities.”

Every year, we hear this post-resurrection account in the Gospel of John, and it got me wondering: Why is it even in the gospel at all?  This question came up a couple times this week when I was talking to folks.  A lot of the time we ask ourselves what meaning a story might have or might be trying to convey, which is important to ask.  But one of the gifts in reading this particular resurrection account each year is that it gives us the opportunity to dig deeper into the story.  To wonder why it’s there, why the writer of John’s gospel chose to tell this story.  At the end of the account, it even says that more happened that isn’t written down, so why this one?

The story itself is a story of the disciples who, even after hearing the Good News from Mary that “Christ is risen!” remain scared and locked up in their house—most of them anyway.  Thomas is not locked up inside, but instead somewhere out in the community.

So why would a story of scared disciples be important to include in the Gospel of John?

The Early Church was a persecuted church.  Crucifixion, the capital punishment of that time, was a common tool of the Roman Empire to keep people in line—to enforce the Pax Romana.  This “Roman Peace” was not the true peace of free movement and expression that we might think of today.  Pax Romana was military power repressing any dissension, conflict, or perceived threat to the Empire.

So considering the Roman Empire’s terror tactics, and the religious authorities willing to work with them to exclude these Jewish rebels who are challenging the system that has been working “well enough,” there was plenty of reason for followers of Christ to be afraid.

But Mary has “seen the Lord!”  Last week we celebrated the Resurrection of Our Lord—Easter Day.  We proclaimed that God in Christ is more powerful than these forces of evil!  And the Early Church was even closer to the Resurrection, so how could they be scared?

Well, we have the promise of Resurrection—of life that vanquishes death, but Christ was still crucified.  Ultimately, Jesus shows up for the disciples minus Thomas and then again for Thomas himself.  And Jesus doesn’t show up in a body the way many of us might think a resurrected body should look.

Jesus breaks into this locked and fearful room and his whole body reminds them of exactly why they’re scared to begin with!  This resurrected Christ still bears the wounds in his side, hands, and feet.  There’s probably still evidence of the mocking crown of thorns and lashes inflicted before the crucifixion itself.

Christ is risen! …and Christ is (still) wounded.

And a week later, when Thomas is with the disciples, they are still shut up in the house.  And again Jesus, the Wounded and Risen One, shows up in their midst, embodying the crucifixion and the resurrection.

And maybe now the disciples will venture out into the world.  Maybe this resurrection story is for a community in fear.  Maybe this story is meant to be both reassurance that the power of resurrection is real—alive and at work in the world—and reassurance that following Christ can mean both crucifixion and resurrection—it can still be scary and dangerous.

Yet Jesus proclaims again and again, “Peace be with you.”  Into the fear and anxiety, into the doubt and disbelief, Jesus speaks words of peace—not of protection from all harm, but of presence and purpose that is greater than any harm.  Peace that is hope, which rests in God’s love.  Jesus speaks peace that has purpose.

Jesus, in his wounded and resurrected body proclaims the peace that at times “surpasses all understanding,” and that at its heart, comforts and encourages those in the Early Church and us today.  Christ’s peace does not proclaim us protected from all harm or struggle.  It proclaims God’s presence with us in all of life—in our woundedness, in our joy, in our fear, and in our courage.  And it gives us another chance at faith.

This peace, proclaimed to disciples who take a while to embrace and embody the resurrection, gives hope to those of us for whom faith is a journey.  We have hope that if it takes the disciples a while to embrace the resurrection even in the face of fear, then it’s ok when our journey of faith is slow, when we hang on to our fears, our doubts, our disbeliefs. 

When the Early Church needs to know that the Resurrected One is also the Wounded One, then we all receive reassurance that our wounds—the parts of us that we might want to be “fixed” or “healed” might just be parts of us that, like the rest of us, God loves immensely.  They might be the parts of us into which Jesus breathes and brings “Peace be with you” the most clearly.

Thanks be to God.