Thursday, January 18, 2024

You Ain't seen nothing Yet1/14/2024 St. Andrew UCC Sarasota

 



John 1:43-51
The Message.

43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, “Come, follow me.” (Philip’s hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)
45-46 Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”
But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.”
47 When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”
48 Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”
Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”
49 Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”
50-51 Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”
This is the word of God for the People of God.
Let us pray - "Gracious and ever living God let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our Hearts be pleasing to you.
Today’s story from the Gospel is about the calling of some of the disciples. In today’s time here and now we are constantly being called by God. We are not called once, to become people of faith, but many times. All through our lives Christ is calling us. God called us first into life at the moment of our creation. Christ calls us into relationship with God and the spirit. Whether we listen for that voice or not, it is there calling us to come ever closer. If we somehow feel we are less than or we hold ourselves accountable for something we have done or haven’t done, we are called into forgiveness; If we are struggling to fulfill our calling, Christ calls us on from grace to grace, and from holiness to holiness. Calling is constantly inviting us to go further and deeper with God.

It is sad but all too often we think of Christ’s call as something that happened in the day of the Apostles along the Sea of Galilee or only for those entering the religious life and Yet Christ is among us calling us this very day often we do not believe it, we do not hear it or feel it, we do not look for it in our own lives.

These sacred callings come to us suddenly and have obscure consequences just as in any account of calling. The accidents and events of life are one special way in which callings occur and they are, by definition, sudden and unexpected.

You haven’t seen anything yet!

You may be going about your daily routine and you come across a letter, or a note, or a person, and now you find yourself faced with something, which, if met prayerfully and whole-ly ( that is spelled whole-ly) that is with full consciousness and intentionality there may be an opportunity to deepen your relationship with God.

When we dedicate our lives to following Christ, we are choosing to live as God would want us to live, and to use our gifts for the greater good. God calls us to be who we are and to live as authentically as we can. When we follow God's direction for our lives, we are being who we were created to be.

The word vocation is derived from the Latin word Vocare, which means, "to call." A vocation is a calling, which sets it apart from being merely a job. My professor Frank Rogers always taught us that; “Vocation is the place in the road where your deepest gladness and the world’s deepest needs meet." God can and does call us at different stages in our lives. For some people, the call is very clear and there is no question about following it. Simon, Andrew, James and John did not hesitate to drop their nets and follow Jesus, leaving the lives and the work that they knew well. It doesn’t mean they were comfortable with the decision. It was just something so strong on their heart that they had to go.

You see, sometimes God calls us out of our comfort zone. Quoting Micah 6:8, South African United Methodist Bishop George Irvine has said, "If it’s loving, if it’s just, if it promotes right relationships, and if it scares the hell out of you, it just might be a call from God."

I was resistant to what God was calling me to do. It was summer 2008. I was living in Palm Springs CA. I was comfortable and didn’t need a new career. It meant giving up the life I knew, it meant going into debt, and it meant having the openness to say I am ready to go wherever you lead me. I struggled with it.

But here is where it gets interesting…because of saying yes once I have been called to say yes many times. I said yes went to seminary and through that I met my husband.

I said yes to an opportunity to understand the struggles at the border and through that I went to Good shepherd UCC in Sahuarita, AZ, At that time I was a seminarian studying for ordination with the MCC. This started me on a journey of understanding Border issues and Discerning a call towards the UCC.

The church there partners with several organizations to try to see that people are treated with dignity, respect, are clothed and fed. Legal or not, refugee or resident, we should each and all be treated the same.

While with the MCC churches I witness the work of the united church of Christ AIDS network. I ended up serving on the board where not only we worked with some of our churches offering specific ministries focusing on those living with HIV/AIDS in their community. I also had the opportunity to attend the world AIDS Conference in Australia.

Jesus said “You haven’t seen anything yet!”

I had decided to get my Doctorate and an opportunity to study through oxford for my Phd arose and I jumped at it. While there I met Dr. Carlos J. Correa-Bernier, Centro Romero, San Ysidro, CA, U.S.A. I traveled half way around the world to meet a man who had a ministry just three hours from me.

“the community of the Daniel F. Romero Center for Border Ministries and Strategies (Centro Romero) organizes our work, and ministries, around the critical issues affecting the quality of life of the communities located in the border region. The border is the place where we live, work, worship and pray”[i]

So I went down to visit his ministries and that was where I first encountered las Memorias AIDS hospice in Tijuana. It was a desolate place. We saw refrigerators that were unusable. We learned how some residents worked at the local farmer market just to get scraps to bring back to the community. We met mothers and their children.

“Las Memorias Hostel is located in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico founded in 1999. Its mission is to provide quality care, human compassion, and warmth to people living with HIV/AIDS. Las Memorias also carries out educational activities for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Las Memorias Hostel serves all regardless of social status, religion or gender, sexual orientation or identity, whether they are immigrants or from other states in Mexico. Relying on a framework of care with dignity with people living with HIV/AIDS, Las Memorias provides housing assistance, food, medicine, transportation to health institutions, and self-help sessions to clients and residents.”[ii]

Trying to figure out how we could best assist such a place as a small church in a tiny denomination was challenging ( I was still MCC then). So I found a solar company in Tijuana who gave me an estimate and we started a campaign to buy panels. I at first had contact with a pastor there but I was not comfortable sending money with out regulation, so I ended up partnering with Global ministries. Mind you I was not UCC yet.

We did end up getting solar panels on the roof I found out one summer when a missionary came form the area to speak about her work and she announced the project had been finished. I had no idea I was still working on funding lol. Just recently they added a new wing just for TB as Tijuana has the highest amount of TB infections and deaths in all of Mexico.

After attending my first synod while still in discernment I noticed we did not have much addressing the HIV community and the AIDS Pandemic. That’s when I suggested we start having the names project/AIDS Quilt panels at our synods. That has been my pet project at every synod since.

We Bring 12 Panels of the Aids quilt each consisting of roughly 8 quilts that’s 96 panels of people who have passed from aids. We bring panels related to our host city and to our different congregations. And every time I minister to people crying, people who ask if this is still a thing, and people who want to know if they can still make quilt for a loved one. So my ministry looks like this …Hugs , yes and here is information on HIV/AIDS. And yes here is how you make a quilt.

Jesus said you haven’t seen anything yet!


The work of UCC Churches and ministers I knew and respected pulled on my heart. I started asking myself did I just want to serve the LGBTQ community alone or serve a broader, Larger, community and work together in many different ministries to Bring this world closer to the Kin-dom of God.

The churches I have served had made hats and scarves and fed the homeless on the street where they live. Churches I have served have provided a free community meal once a month just so we can get to know our neighbors. The churches I have served have gotten together with other churches so we can walk beside and support hotel workers, and car wash workers.

I have delivered clean up buckets to a local congregation whose members had been devastated by wildfires. Another time I ended up receiving a call to serve as a second responder as families were allowed back into their fire ravaged neighborhoods. We made sure they had meals and all they needed for clean up and spiritual and emotional support.

And yet none of this can happen without you. We are congregationalist. We live thrive and survive from the bottom up. Your pledges to your local congregation starts to feed some of the many national programs we have. It stirs hearts in your local community and inspires more people to answer that call.

I was amazed to see all the ministries your congregation here partners with. It does fill my heart with a bit of envy.

ALSO Youth,

· Family Promise/Francis House,

· Project 180,

· Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center (SPARCC)

· All Faiths’ Food Bank,

· Pride festivals, where we extend our radical inclusiveness to the gay community.

· Selah Freedom, an anti-human trafficking non-profit organization

· Sarasota United for Responsibility and Equity (SURE),

· Resurrection House, a day services center for the homeless

· St. Andrew Samaritan Fund, providing financial assistance for groceries, gas and other expenses for neighbors seeking help


I have been blessed through my call to experience but a few of the global programs of the UCC. I have experienced national as well as local programs. There is a prayer by Therese of Avila which I believe is a great reminder of the work we do as united church of Christ.

“Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which ChristHe looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which ChristHe walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which ChristHe blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are Christs’His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which Christhe looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

— St. Teresa of Ávila (attributed)”
The way you are going as Jesus said you haven’t seen anything yet! Amen.

[i] https://www.theromerocenter.com/who-we-are/
[ii] https://www.globalministries.org/update-from-las-memorias-in-mexico/

Sunday, May 15, 2022

 





The New Commandment


31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him,[a] God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”




I do love a good story. I love stories because they set our imagination free.  I love stories because they allow us to conceive the impossible. Better yet, I love stories because they make the impossible, possible.


For centuries people have dreamt dreams and wrote of fantastical journeys.  They write of the impossible.  They write of flying cars, time travel and traveling at the speed of light. Michael Riley writes; ““Science fiction is sometimes talked about as the literature of ideas. How better to illustrate that than William Gibson using the term ‘cyberspace’ in his debut novel, Neuromancer. As Gibson described how his protagonist, Case, ‘jacked into the consensual hallucination that was the matrix,’ a new way of looking at and experiencing information was visualized. In a year that shared its date with the title of George Orwell’s 1984, a science fiction author writing on a manual typewriter allowed us to name and visualize what would later become the internet.”[1]


The Gospel can be the same and I would even venture to say that the Gospel is the same for us. One of our great preachers and teachers, Fred Craddock, shares stories of the everyday that seem to illustrate gospel living. He tells the story like this;


“There is a little community in southwest Oklahoma, near the Washita creek, where the Native American Black Kettle and most of the women and children of his tribe were massacred by General Custer as he and his troops swept down in the early morning hours. The community is named for the general, Custer City.  Nettie and I ministered there for about three years; the population was 450 on a good day. There were four churches: a Methodist church, a Baptist church, a Nazarene church and a Christian church. Each had its share of the population on Wednesday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday evening. Each had a small collection of young people, and the attendance rose and fell according to the weather and whether it was time to harvest the wheat and all of that.


But the most consistent attendance in town was at the little café where all the pickup trucks were parked, and all the men were inside discussing the weather, and the cattle, and the wheat bugs, and the hail, and the wind, and are we going to have a crop. All their wives and sons and daughters were in one of those four churches. The churches had good attendance and poor attendance, but the café had consistently good attendance, better attendance than some of the churches. They were always there. Once in a while they would lose a member there at the café, because their wives finally got to them or their kids did, and you’d see them go sheepishly, off to one of the churches. But the men at the café still felt strong. “We are still the best, the biggest, and strongest group intown.” And so, they went on Wednesdays and Sundays and every other day, discussing weather and crops-not bad men, but good men, family men, hardworking men.


The patron saint of the group that met at the café was named Frank. Frank was seventy-seven when I met him. He was a good, strong man; a pioneer, a rancher and farmer, and a prospering cattle man too. He was born in a sod house; he had his credentials, and all men there at the café’ considered him a saint. “Ha! Ol’ Frank will never go to church.” I met Frank on the street one time. He knew I was a preacher, but it has never been my custom to accost people in the name of Jesus, so I just was shaking his hands and visiting with him, but he took the offensive. He was not offensive, but he took the offensive. He said, “I work hard, I take care of my family, and I mind my own business. Far as I’m concerned, everything else is fluff.” You see what he told me? “Leave me alone, I’m not a prospect.” I didn’t bother Frank. That’s why I, the entire church, and the whole town were surprised, and the men at the café church were absolutely bumfuzzled when old frank, seventy-seven years old, presented himself before me one Sunday morning for baptism. I baptized Frank. Some of the talk in the community was, “Frank must be sick. Guess he’s scared to meet his maker. They say he’s got heart trouble. Going up there and being baptized, well, I never thought ol’ Frank would do that, but I guess when you get scared…” All kind of stories.


But this is the way frank told it to me. We were talking the next day after his baptism, and I said, “Uh, Frank, you remember that little saying you used to give me so much: ‘I work hard, I take care of my family, and I mind my own business’?”


He said, “Yeah, I remember. I said that a lot.”

I said, “You still say that?”

He said, “Yeah.”

I said, “Then what’s the difference?”

He said, “I didn’t know then what my business was.” He discovered what his business was-to serve human need. And so I baptized Frank. I raised my hand and I said, “In the presence of those who gather, upon your confession of faith in Jesus Christ, and in obedience to his command I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son the Holy Spirit. Amen.”[2]


Now that is a fairly long story but it is important why? Because it is today’s gospel message.

This message comes near Jesus death and the disciples are faced with the impossibility of following Jesus at his departure. “I give you a new commandment That you love one another” Not just the way you have cared for each other but the way that I have loved you.



This, in John is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse.  You see John’s gospel is very different from the other three. John Crossan and Marcus Borg remind us that “First the dating is different. In the other Gospels the meal Jesus shares with his friends is the Passover meal, in John it is not. “Rather it is the Thursday before Passover, and the lambs to be eaten at the Passover meal on Friday evening will be killed on Friday afternoon, at about the same hour that Jesus dies on the cross.  The reason for John’s dating seems to be theological: Jesus is the new Passover lamb. Second, the amount of space devoted to Jesus’s last gathering with his disciples is different: in Mark nine verses (14:17-25) in John, five chapters…”[3]


It is also interesting to note that the other three gospels have the words we use at the Eucharist or “the words of institution, this is my Body, this is my blood..” in John we do not see this, “instead John has the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples (13:3-11), a ritual often incorporated into Christian observance of Holy Thursday. Finally, we note that calling this day “Maundy Thursday” is based on Johns story: “Maundy” derives for the Latin word for “mandate” – the new commandment – that Jesus gives his followers in John 13:34: “I give you a new commandment, that you Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another.”[4]


There is a saying that Jesus said I love you this much and then he stretched out his arms and died on the cross. I would add that he loved us so much that he stretched out his arms, died on the cross and then broke the binds of death forever!

That is done…there is nothing more we can do.  We could not love anyone that much. But we can love each other as Christ loved and taught.


In the reading for acts today Peter had a dream that allowed Gentiles into the Jesus movement. “the Holy Spirit, the great boundary crosser, the irresistible force of God’s transformative presence, reaching out and baptizing those outside. And Peter draws the conclusion: “God has given…to Gentiles (the unclean ones) the repentance that leads to life.” These gentiles are invited into God’s new life. God makes a way out of no way, when they had no way to come into new life, God makes possible what I had crossed off as impossible….”[5]


This is what Jesus does. Jesus stands against Empire and tradition.  He stands in the face of categories that separates us and challenges us to Love one another.   And That love is so great it should be troubling us and challenging us every day…


We thought that when the turmoil of the 60’s was over that the race issues had been resolved and yet today African American men and people of color are incarcerated 5 times more than white Americans. Today the united states make up about 5% of the world’s population and has 21%of the world’s prisoners.[6]


Is this how we love one another?


We believed that women’s rights and gender issues were settled and yet there is an attack on women’s health and still large disparity in pay rates.


Is this how we love one another?


There are still places in our own congregations when it comes to the LGBTQ community that believe hate the sinner, love the sin, is ok language and or good theology. 


Is this how we love one another?


The way we are caring for people who are fleeing hunger, hate, war and poverty at our borders is a sin! Literally it defines sin on so many levels! 


Is this how we love one another?


How do we Love one another…so many of those issues seem so far and beyond our influence or capabilities?


We can clothe each other, we can feed each other, we can pray for each other, we can seek out the marginalized, the poor, the hungry and feed and care and do our best.  We may never feed 5000…then again how maybe you have? We may never raise the dead but, how many times has this congregation been the source for comfort and care? I really don’t know because I am really new here.


Tell me about a few of your ministries…


Do we do enough, no. Sorry we don’t because, well we can never do enough.  Can we do more?  I don’t know that is for you to decide.  Can we dream into new ministries?  Can we dream our current ministries bigger?  Broader? 


We know our business is to serve human need.  What are the needs of our community and the people around us?  Have they shifted and moved? 

During covid much of our care has been focused on wellbeing, staying safe and maintaining.


What are the needs of the community around us?


I am asking these questions because I do not know.  If you know share it.  If there is a better way or a different way let’s pray into it as a congregation and see where God maybe taking us.  Let us Somehow shift ourselves more boldly into this new commandment.  Let us walk with each other and pray with each other for the Lord to reveal to us where we are called to serve.


Remember this is about mission and service and growing our ministries.  This is about being the face of Christ to the community around us. Now here is a scary thought…and money is not an issue.  There is no mission no dream that is too big.  If we cannot do it alone let us seek out partners in the community, seek out grants from anywhere and everywhere.  Seek out our family in the churches to our north south east and west and partner to make bigger brighter things happen.


One idea can become a denominational event …ask me about las memorias.


Now I have some high and mighty, fancy, even huge ideas.   But those are mine.  And I will ask the questions but what are yours?  Where do your passions lay?  Where is the spirit troubling the waters in your heart?


I have heard if I had a million dollars, I would like to see this ministry happen.  There is a spiritual practice that says let’s step boldly and blindly in faith and God will provide and if we fail…Dust ourselves off and try again. I give you a new commandment love one another as I have loved you.”  Let us get excited and revved up in Christ like love and see where it may take us.


The commandment to love each other is new because Jesus is the way and the power of that love. And Jesus can be those for us, all we need to do is pray, look and listen for the movement of Spirit.


I pray that we will move together into the new commandment. There are glories of Christ to be seen here, glories that we have never seen before. And there is love to be lived here that some have never tasted before.  This is our time to rediscover the blessing of St. Teresa of Avila:


““Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”


Let us be the hands, feet, eyes and body of Christ to the world around us. Amen.








[1]https://electricliterature.com/8-pieces-of-modern-technology-that-science-fiction-predictedor-invented/

[2]Craddock, Fred B., and Mike Graves. Craddock Stories. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2001. Pg. 67-69


[3]Borg, Marcus J., and John Dominic Crossan. The Last Week: What Gospels Really Teach about Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem: Marcus J Borg and John Dominic Crossan. San Francisco: HarperSan Francisco, 2006. Pg. 110


[4]Ditto

[5]Brueggemann, Walter, and Thomas A. Long. Collected Sermons of Walter Brueggemann. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015. Pg.140


[6]NAACP.ORG

Sunday, September 19, 2021

How are the Children? Mark 9:30-37 Lake Helen First Congregational UCC

 

A reading from Mark 9:30-37

New Revised Standard Version

Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

 

Who Is the Greatest?

33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

This is the Gospel of the lord.

 

“Among the many fabled and accomplished tribes of East Africa, there is no tribe considered to have warriors more fearsome or more intelligent than the mighty Maasai. The tribe is unique and popular due to their long preserved culture.

 

Despite education, civilization and western cultural influences, the Maasai people have clung to their traditional way of life—making them a symbol of Kenyan culture.

 

So it is not surprising, then, to learn that the traditional greeting passed among the Maasai warriors; “Kasserian Engeri,” translated “And how are the children?” is still the traditional greeting used today. This greeting acknowledges the high value that the Maasai place on children’s well-being.

 

Even warriors with no children of their own give the traditional answer, “All the children are well,” meaning that peace and safety prevail; the priorities of protecting the young and the powerless are in place; that the Maasai people have not forgotten their reason for being. Their proper function and their responsibilities.

 

“All the children are well” means life is good.

 

It means the daily struggles of existence—even among the poor and the marginalized—are seen. That the village is committed to providing proper care for those (who are) incapable of providing for themselves.”[i]

This is a question I am afraid to answer.  Jesus states that we must welcome a child. We must become as servants. Yet how many of us even have a concept of what this may mean? I think we need to understand what it means to be servants and slave then we must ask ourselves what does it mean to welcome a child?  What does it mean to be hospitable to a child? What does it mean to ask “how are the Children?” and can we answer “the Children are well.”

 

“The word in the New Testament usually translated as “servant” actually means “slave,” and referred to someone who was owned or controlled by someone else, not just a servant hired to do a certain job. Some slaves performed menial household tasks. Others, called “stewards,” supervised the work of lesser servants or managed the master’s finances. In the time of Jesus, some people were slaves because they were born to slave parents. Others were captured in war and were forced to become slaves. Some people actually sold themselves as slaves because they could have a higher standard of life as a slave than if they had to keep struggling to find housing or food on their own.

 

Some slaves were better educated than their masters and served as teachers of their master’s children. Slaves of rich masters had all kinds of opportunities that they would never have had on their own. But slaves had no freedom, and their owners could do with them whatever they wanted, including selling them to someone else. After slaves became 30 years old, many would become “freedmen,” with duties to the former master and his family. Some slaves earned enough money to buy their own freedom, which would mean that their children could be free also.”[ii]

For the most part your life is not your own.  You belong to someone else and you do as they wish. You follow their commands…now there might be something there…

 

Professor of biblical theology at Princeton, C Clifton black reminds us that “Last week’s Gospel lection, Mark 8:27-38, jabbed three sharp barbs:

 

Jesus’ prediction of his suffering, murder, and resurrection (8:31)

Peter’s repudiation of Jesus’ destiny (8:32)

Jesus’ rebuttal of Peter and command that his followers take up their crosses (8:33-38).

This week the same pattern recurs:

 

Jesus’ prediction of his betrayal, murder, and resurrection (9:31)

The disciples’ incomprehension of their teacher’s teaching (9:32-34)

Jesus’ correction of the Twelve with a surprising definition of discipleship (9:35-37).

In case Mark’s audience has failed as miserably as the Twelve to get the point, the same scheme unfolds in Chapter 10: prediction (verses 33-34), misunderstanding (verses 35-39a), readjustment (verses 39b-45).

 

Why this repetition? Two reasons. First: Discipleship in Mark is hard to accept. Second: In this Gospel Jesus’ closest followers are so dense that light bends around them.”[iii]

Again, one can hear why discipleship is so hard to accept.  Jesus is literally telling them your life can no longer be yours…you are not number one! And worse you must become as a servant/slave.

 

 Mark really does not have a high opinion of the disciples nor their capabilities. Jesus has laid out the pattern which he will follow.  As a matter of fact he has told them over and over again.

 

“Dopey disciples

 

‘But they did not understand [Jesus’] saying [in 9:31], and they were afraid to ask him’ (9:32). What’s not to understand? Jesus has already said much the same in 8:33-38. But the Twelve in Mark’s Gospel never understand Jesus (4:13; 6:52; 8:17, 21). In fact, the last words uttered by Peter, last of the twelve hangers-on, is, ‘I neither know nor understand what you mean’ (14:66). This claim, asserted outside the house where Jesus is betrayed by his countrymen, is a chicken-hearted lie that captures the ironic truth. As for the disciples’ fear to ask (9:32), that too is true to form: throughout Mark they are scared spitless (4:40-41; 6:50; 9:6; 10:32; 16:8). Those with faith in Jesus have nothing to fear (4:40-41; 5:33-34, 36), but not once does Mark ever attribute faith to the Twelve (compare the usually nameless nobodies in 2:5; 5:34; 9:24; 10:52).”[iv]

Basically, for mark the 12 are the fools.  The chosen are not capable.  Nameless nobodies…the crowd who lowers the paralyzed man, because of their faith healed him…The woman who touched Jesus clothes; “Daughter your faith has made you well…” Jesus says to a father “If you are able – all things can be done for one who believes…” the man’s son is healed of a demon.  The Blind man asks to see and Jesus tells him Go; your faith has made you well”

 All these miracles of faith happen to the nameless, to those who live outside of society.  You see it was their illness and or their family’s illness that made them outcasts and shunned and nameless.

 

“Immediately after Jesus has reminded them of his impending humiliation, his followers are shamed to silence: they’ve been quarreling over which of them is tops in their own pecking order (9:33-34). Given antiquity’s preoccupation with social status—not so very distant from our own—that debate is predictable. But in Mark’s context, it’s nonsensical, since Jesus is superior to them all. Disregarding the General, these foot soldiers’ bicker over their respective ranks. The picture is clear: those with the greatest benefit of Jesus’ instruction set for themselves low standards and consistently fail to achieve them.”[v] In other words the disciples are arguing over what is not at all important and as far as Jesus’ teachings go this is absolutely a waste of anyone’s time…except ours for it serves as a reminder to fucus on the lessons, Jesus’ message.

So to prove his point Jesus invites a child into the circle.  The verse says he places a child among them. To be counted among something or placed among something can bring an image of equality. “Primer interpares.”  The first among equals.  Jesus is placing the child among those quarreling over first place and says here is first place.  This is how you become first.

“just as the saving of one’s life requires its sacrifice for the gospel’s sake, so too does primacy in discipleship demand taking a place last of all, as everyone’s servant (9:35)…

A child epitomizes the most subservient human in ancient society, one with slightest status. In Jesus’ presence a little child literally has ‘standing’.”[vi]

So this begs the question I opened with how are the children. Do we welcome a child as a one of the first disciples? Do we honor our Children by leaving them a better world? A safer world? It breaks my heart but many of us are failing the children of this world.

“Education Week journalists, in 2018, began tracking shootings on K-12 school property that resulted in firearm-related injuries or deaths. That year, there were 24 such incidents. There were 25 in 2019.

 

We continued tracking school shootings in 2020, when there were 10 such incidents…The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have interrupted the trend line. That fall off in numbers is probably due to the shift to remote learning for nearly all schools for part or all of 2020.”[vii]  That would seem like good news but unfortunately so has reporting of child abuse dropped because our schools are the first line of defense.

How are the Children?

Somehow the idea of childhood safety has become skewed in this light of the pandemic.  People suddenly are afraid to vaccinate their children when we know vaccinations stop pandemics in their path.  How many children get polio today? Or measles? or rubella. I know this is controversial but should it be? I work in health care and I am constantly being bombarded by infections and death.

“Dr. Federico Laham, medical director of infectious diseases at Arnold Palmer Hospital, says pediatric cases at the hospital have “skyrocketed” over the last few weeks. “We have seen a dramatic increased number of children especially those under 17,” Laham said. “The number of patients admitted to the hospital has tripled during this last month in August.”[viii]

How are the Children?

Finally let’s say we get beyond guns…

Let’s say the pandemic subsides…

Lets say childhood hunger is averted…

What kind of world are we leaving for the Children?

I have worked with many a non profit.  I have worked at or hosted many events.  When one rents a space we have a saying…leave it better than when you found it.

How are the Children?

We need to do a lot of work on our behavior. Remember we are only visiting this planet.  We do not own it and we need to leave it better than when we found it.

The UCC recently passed the rights of nature… “First Congregational Church of Redlands in California became a strong advocate for it. In a letter to delegates attending the General Synod gathering, it wrote, “What this resolution of the Rights of Nature does, among many things, is put us directly in touch with our moral responsibility and profound gratitude to the Earth and all living beings, and our deep commitment to healing our society and our world in all life-affirming ways. Learning to experience our interconnectedness with ‘all relations’ is crucial.”[ix]

For the Children of this world;

 we must advocate and fight for the environment…

We must advocate and fight for Gun reform…

We must advocate and fight for equal access to health care

We Must advocate and fight for food accessibility…

For the Children of this world we must become as a slave and obey the masters law…Love God and love each other as you would love yourself  and follow Christs example by placing the Child among us as equal if not more important than ourselves.

Once all of this work is done and done well then when asked How are the children then and only then will we be able to answer…All the Children are well….meaning peace and safety finally prevail.

 

 



[i] https://www.ucc.org/news_traci_blackmon_how_are_the_children/

[ii] https://bibleresources.americanbible.org/resource/slaves-and-servants-in-the-time-of-jesus-history-and-culture

[iii] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-25-2/commentary-on-mark-930-37-7

[iv] Ditto

[v] Ditto

[vi] Ditto

[vii] https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-shootings-this-year-how-many-and-where/2020/01

[viii] https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/08/31/arnold-palmer-medical-director-says-pediatric-hospitalizations-have-skyrocketed/

[ix] https://www.ucc.org/a-new-first-united-church-of-christ-declares-that-nature-has-rights/

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Feasting on the Word..John 6:56-69 Lake Helen First Congregational UCC




John 6:56-69 nrsv

New Revised Standard Version

56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

 

The Words of Eternal Life

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65 And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”

 

66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67 So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”[a]

 

John 6:56-69

The Message

53-58 But Jesus didn’t give an inch. “Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you. In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me. This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always.”

 

59 He said these things while teaching in the meeting place in Capernaum.




Oh Lord this reading is hard…we have been talking about this for weeks and yet Jesus goes on speaking about the bread of life, about him being the bread of life and how we must consume that bread and drink his blood.  Ugh! Does he have to be so graphic?  Why is this so hard to hear?  Why do his own followers walk away?



I have to tell a story Now this is kind of telling on someone, but we had a congregant back in NoHo who stopped coming to church because at communion we were eating of the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ and that was cannibalism.

 

One commentator believes we need to move away from the metaphor...

“In Jewish culture, the idea of ​​eating meat with blood was taboo. In fact, it was a prohibition given to humanity in general after the flood in Genesis 9: 4. The Law repeats this prohibition to the people of Israel (Lv 17:11, 14; 19:26; Dt 12:23). In addition, blood and fat were the parts of the animal that were to be given exclusively to God in the sacrifices (Lev 3: 16-17; 4: 18-35; 9: 18-20). Thus, the reference to the flesh and blood in these words of Jesus has nothing to do with the Eucharist (although historically it has been interpreted that way and some believe that this section about flesh and blood was added to the original discourse) , but with the sacrifice of the tabernacle or the temple that restored or celebrated the communion between the believer and God. Truly, we must not concentrate on the metaphors of bread / meat / blood that Jesus uses throughout the chapter, but on what is done with those elements: eating. To eat the manna in the desert was to receive life. To eat the separated loaves for the priests of the temple was to have communion with God. Also to eat the sacrificed meat on the altar was, for the believing Jew, to have communion with the same God. Eating is synonymous with accepting, receiving, believing, trusting, welcoming, staying, etc., all words that the Gospel of John uses repeatedly to describe the challenge with which Jesus confronts us-the obligation of the true disciple or the true disciple. to remain faithful to the Lord and to remain in communion with Him. And given the context of sacrifice in the words "flesh and blood," the nuance here is that we must accept Christ, not only descended from heaven but also raised on the cross (Jn 3:14). In this approach, according to which the person and the way of Jesus are understood both through the cross and through the resurrection, all the gospels are in agreement.”[1]

I like his explanation sort of but for me it robs John’s Gospel of it’s approach though he does keep the heart of the message.

How does Johns Gospel open?

In the beginning was the Word,

And the Word was with God,

And the Word was God.

This [Word] was in the beginning with God.

Everything came to be through [the Word],

And apart from [the Word] nothing at all came to be.

What came to be in [the Word] was Life,

And the Life was the light of human beings.

And the Light shines in Darkness,

And the Darkness did not master [the Light] ….

 

The Genuine Light, which enlightens every human being, was coming into the World.

 

He was in the world,

And the world came to be through [the Light];

And the world did not know [the Light].

[The Light] came to his own,

And his own did not accept him.

But as many accepted him,

He gave them power to become children of God.

[They were the ones] who believed in his name,

Who were not born of blood,

Nor of will of flesh,

Nor the will of man,

But of God.

 

And the word became flesh…[2]

 

The commentator wants us to move away from metaphor and struggle with the literal concept of consuming that which feeds us with God at table. But I hear something different if we listen to how John opens this Gospel with Metaphor as Jesus being the Word of God with us from the beginning through which all things are made then the word became flesh and walked among us ministered to us taught us and then returned to heaven leaving us nothing but…His word, the word.  We are called to feast upon the word of Christ. We are called to feast upon the Gospel.

 

“Eating is synonymous with accepting, receiving, believing, trusting, welcoming, staying, etc., all words that the Gospel of John uses repeatedly to describe the challenge with which Jesus confronts us-the obligation of the true disciple or the true disciple. to remain faithful to the Lord and to remain in communion with Him.”[3]

I suspect some people in Jesus’ crowd heard these words with this exact interpretation some did not but those who were challenged by Jesus words used the excuse that his words are too hard. Much like the young man asked how to get to heaven…he was already doing what was easy for him. Keeping the Sabbath…Tithing, feeding the hungry…So Jesus says let’s go a step further sell all you own give it away and follow me…the man went away sad because the call was too hard….

“Throughout this chapter's discussion about the bread which gives life, Jesus' words have been greeted with misunderstanding, confusion, and objection from the crowd, referred to either simply as "they" or "the Jews." In verse 60, we hear about the reaction from the "disciples" (in John not to be equated with "the twelve"; see verse 67). We may expect better things from them. After all, they were the ones who sat together with Jesus at the beginning of this text, who followed Jesus' instructions in gathering up the leftovers of the bread and fish, and who were rescued from the storm at sea by Jesus. Perhaps most importantly, we expect that "the disciples" belong to "us," and not to "them."

 

Thus we may be stunned when we hear that the disciples are now the ones who are bothered by what Jesus has said. We may have been tempted to simply write off the rest of the crowd as stubborn and obtuse, but the reference to "the disciples" sounds uncomfortably close to home. In verse 61, the disciples begin to grumble (NRSV "complain"), just as "the Jews" did in verse 41. Here, the problem seems not so much that the disciples have difficulty understanding what Jesus is saying; they understand quite well but cannot believe and follow what Jesus has said. How often do we find the same to be true about ourselves?

As has been Jesus' habit throughout this conversation, he meets objections by sharpening the point of his message, raising the offense rather than softening it, and thereby bringing the conversation to a crisis. In verse 62, Jesus points to his "going up" (NRSV "ascending"). We may think first of Luke's ascension scene, but we need to remember that this is John's story, and in John's telling Jesus returns to the Father by being lifted up on the cross.”[4]

Some of the followers of Christ can already see where all this is leading there have been a few hints along the way as Jesus has upset some of the Leadership of the community. This is too hard…others just hear the literal as opposed to the metaphor and do not even try to understand and dismiss Jesus. Others are still seeking literal food not understanding that they will just be hungry again and not fulfilled.

Another commentator reflects;

“The text tells us: "Since then many of his disciples went back and no longer walked with him" (v. 66). Why did they stop following Jesus? Is it because they did not understand the way Jesus offered the eternal bread? Is it possible that some have believed that Jesus would give them a bread that literally would not end? In a society of scarcity like Jesus’, the idea of ​​endless sustenance would undoubtedly have attracted many. But we see through the scriptures that God's plan has never been to serve as a food-providing machine. The earth in its fullness has always been able to supply humanity and the creatures of the world with what is necessary. But human greed has created systems of inequality that favor a few and leave most people in a state of need.”[5]

This statement made my mind jump my train of thought, honestly my mind often jumps the track, but this time it jumped to a good track, I hope, for this led me to think about feeding the hungry and what it means especially since one of the greatest inequalities in this world remains food!


I see by your web page that you all collect food for the outside the gates food Pantry. I read there was a box just outside the narthex. So I have made a contribution. It is not a lot when you read their wish list;

Meat & Protein Items:  Peanut butter; Canned meats (ham, chicken, tuna, Spam, salmon); Canned stews and chili; Bean soups; Canned or dried beans

 

Canned Vegetables (any kind)

 

Canned Fruit (any kind)

 

Grains/Cereal:  Assorted breakfast cereal; Oatmeal; Grits; Pasta; Rice; Crackers; Flour; Cake mix; Cornbread mix, Pancake mix, Granola bars, etc.

 

One-Dish Boxed Meals:  Mac & Cheese; Tuna Helper; Hamburger Helper; Rice-A-Roni; Scalloped potatoes; Mashed potatoes; Stuffing mix

 

Heat & Eat:  Soup (any kind); Ravioli; Spaghetti & Meatballs; SpaghettiOs; Corned beef hash; Pork & beans; Baked beans

 

Oils & Condiments:  Cooking oil; Sugar; Salt; Pepper; Other assorted spices; Mayonnaise; Ketchup; Mustard

 

Other:  Jelly; Jam; Syrup; Jell-O; Pudding mix; Canned evaporated milk; Non-fat dry milk; Instant coffee; Tea; Hot chocolate  

 

Non-Food Items:  Toilet paper; Soap; Toothbrushes; Toothpaste; Combs; Shampoo; Dish detergent; Laundry detergent.

 

Every little bit helps.

But what does it mean to be hungry? Bread for the world explains it this way.

 “Everyone feels hungry on a daily basis. Most people are able to satisfy this craving and need. Even if not immediately, they can count on having a meal or snack within hours. This is not the type of hunger that Bread is concerned with.

 

People who suffer chronic hunger don’t have the option of eating when they are hungry. They do not get enough calories, essential nutrients, or both. People who are hungry have an ongoing problem with getting food to eat. They have a primary need — how to feed themselves and their children today and tomorrow. They have little energy for anything else…

It is commonly known that the cause of hunger in the world is not a shortage of food but rather access to food.

Some people are hungry because food is in short supply in their area and for a specific reason. It may be because they can’t afford to buy enough food. It may be both.

Some countries have a “hunger season” every year. It's when the previous harvest is gone, and the next harvest is not yet ready. It can last as long as three or four months.

The U.S. doesn’t have that kind of a hunger season, but for many families, some weeks are hungrier than others. These usually come toward the end of the month, as families run short of food before they have money to buy more. People can’t simply decide to spend less on rent, but, if necessary, they can spend less on food.

For many low-wage workers, retirees, people with disabilities, and their families, even careful planning cannot stretch the grocery budget throughout the month. Less expensive — and less nutritious — filler foods can keep children’s stomachs from growling, but they can’t provide what children need to grow and learn. Adults who are missing meals because they can’t afford to buy food can’t concentrate as well at work…

People in certain conditions, whether they live in the developing world or the United States, are extremely vulnerable to hunger. A month of bad weather for a farmer or an illness for a worker and a loss of income can mean less food and the prospect of hunger.

Food insecurity is the more formal term for this condition. People living with food insecurity lack a stable, reliable means of getting the meals they need.”[6]

I thought I could share a few statistics with you as well. According to second harvest;

 

“On March 31, 2021, Feeding America released local-level food insecurity projections for 2021 which show that food insecurity has remained elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels for 96% of counties. In Central Florida, Feeding America projects that 13.8%, one in seven people and 20.1%, one in five children, live in households that may be food insecure in 2021.

 

The study, The Impact of the Coronavirus on Local Food Insecurity in 2020 and 2021, provides a snapshot of food insecurity at the state, congressional district and county level prior to the pandemic and presents the likely impact the ensuing economic crisis has had on food insecurity levels in the U.S. In addition, for the first time, Feeding America has produced local-level projections of very low food security, a more severe range of food insecurity that involves reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns.”[7]

 

 

“95 million more meals a year are needed to fill the hunger gap that exists in Central Florida.

One in seven people are facing hunger in our community.

More than 500,000 people in Central Florida don’t know when or where their next meal will come.

One in five children in Central Florida face hunger.”

 

 

“What are the Effects of Food Insecurity?

 

Chronic Disease

 

Food Insecurity is associated with higher probability of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, hepatitis, stroke, cancer, asthma, diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease and kidney disease

Child Hunger

 

Hunger can harm a child’s opportunities to reach their full potential and contribute fully to their communities—which affects society.

 

Children from food-insecure homes may be more likely to:

 

Have lower math scores

Repeat a grade in elementary school

Experience developmental impairments in areas like language and motor skills

Have more social and behavioral problems

Be less prepared for the workforce as adults

Senior Hunger

 

Seniors who are food-insecure have:

 

Higher rates of chronic diseases

Poorer general health

Three times higher prevalence of depression

Diminished capacity to maintain independence while aging”[8]

.

As we feast on the word of God…and when we share in the table of remembrance called communion we also share a table with those who around us are hungry for real food.  

 You see “God's plan has always been to live in communion with his people; God is still waiting for us to create a world that reflects the image of God-in love, justice, fulfillment, mercy, equality, etc. We see it in Genesis, when God created the human being to share in the work of creation. We see it in the Law, according to which the sacrifices have in mind a companionship between God and the person and community. We see it in the Prophets, who insist on the responsibilities of the people to form a just society. And John, at last, tells us that the Word that created the world became flesh to call people to a community to opposed to the values ​​of the Roman Empire and any political or economic system that dehumanizes the being”[9] Jesus is always calling us to be an anti-Imperial, anti-hierarchical society in which its members, are empowered by the Spirit that Jesus emphasizes in the fourth gospel, live in communion with God and with one another. We are called to Feast upon the word and share in communion as one people, as one spirit, and as the one body of Christ. Amen




[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3779

[2] King, Nicholas. The Bible: A Study Bible. Buxhall, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Kevin Mayhew, 2013.

[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3779

[4] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=372

[5] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3779

[6] http://www.bread.org/what-hunger

[7] https://www.feedhopenow.org/site/SPageServer/?pagename=about_hunger

[8] Ditto

 

[9] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3779